


Unplanned Expeditions

by ObsessiveOddball



Category: Danny Phantom, DreamWorks Dragons (Cartoon), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: A little bit of angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Dimension Travel, Dragon's Edge (How to Train Your Dragon), Dragons, Gen, Humor, Non-Graphic Violence, Present Tense, Race To The Edge, Scars
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2019-11-08 11:09:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 31,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17980190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObsessiveOddball/pseuds/ObsessiveOddball
Summary: Danny Fenton just wants some time to relax, unfortunately the universe has other plans. Falling through a portal into a world full of dragons is only the start of his problems.Clockwork seems to know what’s going on, but communication issues abound and it’ll take a lot of work from everyone involved to get all the facts. Add in Danny’s fear of sharing his secret, and things get a whole lot harder.Or: Danny takes an unexpected trip to the HTTYD verse and has to deal with it, for better or for worse.





	1. Portal Troubles

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is set during HTTYD: Race To The Edge. Phantom Planet never happened.
> 
> I love How To Train Your Dragon and Danny Phantom crossovers, but there really aren’t very many. I hope that anyone reading this loves both world just as much as me! I want to encourage more people to write this sort of crossover, I mean, Danny Phantom cannon implies that dimension travel is possible, so why not?

Danny just wants a peaceful weekend for once, is that really so much to ask? Instead he finds himself lost somewhere in the Ghost Zone, dodging ghostly monster trucks (how do monster trucks even die?) while trying to find his way back to the portal, or at least somewhere familiar. Unfortunately, he isn’t recognizing any landmarks.

 

One of the more aggressive ghost trucks rams him, sending Danny right into the fender of another. Somehow the ghost truck’s growling seems really menacing right about now. The trio of trucks are definitely persistent, he’s been running from them for at least half an hour and they aren’t showing any sign of slowing down.

 

He shoots an ectoblast at the nearest one, damaging its front wheel. It lets out a terrible screech in response, and tries to run him over. 

 

The battle continues, Danny calling out witty banter and getting the occasional hit in. He manages to deal with the first ghost by coating it in ice, and the second is fended off with careful hit and run tactics.

 

By the time he’s taken out the first two he’s completely forgotten about the third, it had hung back for most of the fight. While he’s giving himself a pat on the back, as is customary when you narrowly escape death by motor vehicle, he starts to hear a familiar growling noise.

 

“Wait… weren’t there three trucks?” He says, with a dawning sense of  _ ‘oh frick, I’m so dead’.  _ Mere moments after he comes to this realization, he’s sent hurtling through the ghost zone by a hit from his automotive opponent. 

 

He’s so focused on trying to right himself, that he doesn’t manage to get out of the way of a portal that opens up right in front of him. “Shit” is all he manages to say before he finds himself caught in the uncomfortable squeezing feeling of entering another world. Dimensional portals are  _ really  _ uncomfortable to go through.

 

Portals to other dimensions aren’t that rare, but this is the first time he’s ever gone through one fully. Clockwork had told him a bit about dimensional portals a month ago, and now Danny regrets not paying enough attention.

 

The portal spits him out with a pop and closes up, sealing him away from his own world. He barely has enough time to register the ground coming up to meet him before it is waaay too close. He catches on flimsy tree branches until he slams down against hard packed earth.It’s definitely not the first time he’s hit the ground too hard, but god does it hurt. He’s pretty sure he’s landed on his side wrong, because out of all his aches that one’s definitely the worst.

 

He groans, and looks down to see if he can spot the damage. What he does see makes him pause. 

 

Okaaaay… maybe he’s got a concussion? Can those lead to hallucinations? 

 

He’s pretty sure it isn’t a concussion, because his head feels fairly okay compared to everything else. Everything else really frickin hurts though, so that may not be the best comparison. 

 

Where the familiar jumpsuit he dons as Phantom should be, is a mass of dark scales, and a glance at his arm reveals some sort of wing. It seems way too small and flimsy to actually get him off the ground though. He spends at least a minute just staring at the new appendage. Then he tries to move his arm.

 

The wing kind of twitches, but it feels really weird. It’s like when your foot falls asleep and you have trouble getting your toes to cooperate. 

 

Getting up seems like a bit of a far fetched idea at the moment, so he takes a while to just sit there and try to figure out his appendages. He’s up two wings, down two arms. He still has legs, but they feel differently proportioned than before. He also happens to discover a tail.

 

He discovers said tail when he accidentally smacks himself in the face with it.

 

When he decides that he’s been procrastinating long enough, he heaves himself up. The first few tries fail, it turns out that he’s really taken arms for granted. He still can’t entirely control his wings, and keeps on overbalancing. Around the fifth try he manages to get up. Walking is a lot easier than getting up, as he soon discovers. 

 

Now he can ask the rather important questions  _ ‘where am I, and why am I suddenly a dragon?’  _ He remembers Clockwork explaining that when traveling dimensions the traveler usually changes to fit in with the universe, but he had assumed it would be fairly minor stuff, not… this. What kind of universe is he in that being a  _ dragon  _ would help him blend in?

 

He doesn’t have enough time to muse on the second question, because an arrow has just sprouted from the tree next to his head. 

 

A definitely human voice can be heard in the distance shouting “Fire!” as a volley of arrows hurtle toward him. Danny for once remembers that intangibility is a thing! Unfortunately, it isn’t a thing he can do in this dimension. Frickin dimension travel.

 

A bolt hits home in his left leg, which hurts like hell. At least the rest missed him. It’s kind of hilarious that of the entire volley he only ended up hit by one arrow, especially with how close that voice had sounded. Everything seems kind of funny right now, and the most coherent part of his brain (it sounds kind of like Jazz) is shouting at him that something’s wrong. Unfortunately the rest of his brain is staggering around drunkenly and giggling at things.

 

He hardly notices when he falls over. Falling over is funny. Hey look, a net!

 

The part of his brain that sounds like Jazz facepalms. 

 

* * *

 

It takes a few hours for him to start feeling sober enough to realize the severity of his situation. He’s stuck in an unknown dimension, chained up, and has no way home. Oh yeah, and he can’t go intangible. Which really sucks, because if he could he’d be out of these weird green chains in a flash. 

 

He had been loaded up onto some sort of ship while he was totally out of it, and is currently pacing in his cage muttering about  _ ‘stupid guys with crossbows’  _ (though it comes out as some sort of growl). 

 

The chains binding his wings are getting really annoying too. He still isn’t used to having wings, but feeling pinned down like this is making him antsy. 

 

He tries to summon up an ectoblast, but instead of steadily building up in the hands he doesn’t have, the familiar energy feels like it’s creeping up his throat. He spits a blazing green blast, bright enough that he needs to close his eyes for a moment. 

 

The area it hits doesn’t look so much as charred, the forest colored cage seemingly impervious to the attack. Damn. He supposes it makes sense though, if you’re going to stick a dragon in a cage, it had better be a damn well built cage.

 

Reaching for the part of his core that makes ice has a similar result to trying to use an ectoblast. A blast of frozen air shoots from his mouth. It feels like swallowing an ice cube, but in reverse. This has a bit more effect, the front of the cage and some of the wall across from it freezing when the icy blast hits. 

 

Unfortunately this alerts the very buff looking guard. Great.

 

The man lumbers over, and Danny can see the glint of keys on his belt. While the guard starts a menacing monologue he doesn’t really care about (this guy has nothing on a pissed off Walker) He formulates a very stupid plan. 

 

Danny lunges forward while the man talks, aiming of the keys, not even considering that he wouldn’t be able to get out if he had them (curse his lack of opposable thumbs!). 

 

He gets a very painful thump to the head for his trouble. Apparently the guard is used to dragons lashing out like this, and has a pretty good right hook to show for it. Danny staggers back a little, trying to clear his head. Well, there goes escape plan number one. It probably wouldn’t have worked anyway.

 

The guard stomps up the stairs, grumbling about the  _ ‘stupid mystery dragon’.  _ Not very long after he disappears above deck, Danny hears the latch opening again. The person who comes down this time is… intimidating to say the least. He’s almost as tall as Danny’s dad, and that’s saying something. He also gives off some really nasty puppy kicking vibes. 

 

The guy’s sporting some sort of mustache and goatee thing that Danny doesn’t know the proper name for, but man does it make him look menacing. Oh yeah, and don’t forget the spiked shoulder pad and skull belt buckle. He’s also pretty much bald.

 

All in all, he doesn’t look like the sort of guy you want to mess with. Clearly Danny is lacking in common sense though, because he shoots a freezing blast in the man’s direction. He isn’t sure exactly what he had expected, but the tall guy simply stepping out of the way with a smug smile definitely isn’t it.

 

The guy who just reeks of villainy grins and says “ah yes… our little mystery dragon. Seems you’ve got some spirit, eh?” He laughs “well we’ll just have to deal with that, won’t we?” 

 

Danny, in his continuous fit of stupidity (maybe he’s not as recovered from whatever was on that arrow as he thought he was) leaps forward ramming against the bars. He knows he’s not thinking or doing the rational thing, but he wants  _ out.  _ He’s never done well with smug evil jerks, I mean, look at how often he flips out at Vlad. 

 

The aforementioned evil guy seems to find this extraordinarily amusing, and pulls out… oh hell no, that’s a muzzle isn’t it.

 

_ ‘Damnit Danny, did you really need to flip your shit like that?’  _ He thinks, backing up into the corner, and hissing defiance.

 

The man opens up the cage door, stepping inside while holding the offending muzzle. Behind him is freedom, Danny just needs to get around- oh crap. He sees the fist coming toward his face too late, and feels the knockout punch connect with his jaw with a bloom of pain.

 

The last thing he sees before falling unconscious, is a the very familiar bright light of his transformation. 

 

Ah geez, he had forgotten transforming was even an option. 

 

* * *

 

Ryker watches the dragon go down, keeping up the smug smile he always wears around the beasts, but it morphs into a look of confusion as a bright white light flashes from the dragon.

 

When the light dies down, what remains isn’t the mystery dragon, but a dark haired child. 

 

“Some sort of defense mechanism…?” He wonders aloud. 

 

He had never seen anything like this dragon before, it’s entirely possible that it’s some sort of shapeshifter, and this form is a last resort attempt to plead for mercy. He won’t know without more research. 

 

He suspects that the information he wants could easily be found on the damn Dragon Eye, but that’s still in the possession of the dragon riders. Instead he’ll have to resort to more ordinary means. Listening for rumors, following leads. He’s done it a thousand times before, if there’s anything to be known about this new dragon then he’ll be the one to find it.

 

Well, if it is a shapeshifter then the muzzle probably won’t work, but it hasn't transformed into anything small enough to leave the cage yet, so it probably can’t. He’ll have to post more guards just to make sure.

 

If nothing else, such a curiosity will sell well on the auction block. 

  
  
  



	2. Raid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious note, a fight scene, and lots of questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so happy to hear that this fic has been well received! 
> 
> This takes place sometime before ‘Edge Of Disaster’

It’s been about a week since Danny’s run in with Ryker (he had learned the puppy kicking guy’s name when he overheard a guard muttering about his terrible dental insurance) and he’s stayed mostly in human form. He’s absolutely exhausted, and if the guy has already seen it, then what the hell. He isn’t even sure how he’d held up his Phantom form for the short time he had. 

 

Apparently the dragon hunters don’t feed captives very regularly, it seems more like an every other day kind of thing. 

 

His healing powers are kicking in, and it feels like the bruising from his fall has gone down, but the place where the arrow had pierced him is stubbornly refusing to get better. It’s probably why he’s acting so sluggish after his initial bout of giddiness, it feels kind of like blood blossoms, but less burning pain and more drunkenness.

 

At this point he isn’t doing too well. Back in Amity Park he can go for a while without eating because he can pull in ambient energy from the portal, but this world doesn’t have any stable entries to the Ghost Zone and that, combined with lack of food, is taking a toll on him. His stomach feels like it’s eating itself from the inside out, and he’s absolutely parched. 

 

He’s found that he can feel the dragons in the nearby cages, it’s kind of like his ghost sense, but instead of a cold sensation and a puff of mist, it’s just the direct knowledge of where all the dragons are. He suspects that it’s another one of his powers that’s been messed up by this dimension. It would be pretty nice if his ghost sense could work like this back in amity, it would save him the trouble of tracking down the troublemaking ghosts.

 

He’s mostly managed to avoid thinking about home, about how he’d left behind his friends and family without so much as a note. They’ll be worried about him when they realize he’s gone. Jazz will probably find out first, she’s observant like that, he just hopes his parents don't jump to any inane conclusions. Oh god, they’re totally going to blame Phantom aren’t they, it’s the kind of thing they would do.

 

Danny puts his head in his hands and sighs. He had never expected to end up in this situation. Stranded in an unfamiliar world, held captive by a band of mad dragon hunters, and without any means of escape. It doesn’t get much worse than this.

 

He wishes he could at least have Sam and Tucker here with him, they always find a way to make things seem less dire. 

 

For the first time since arriving in this dimension Danny cries. He misses home. He misses his friends. Most of all, he misses his  _ family. _

 

* * *

 

Hiccup stares down at the note he had found in his workshop, as though it would reveal its secrets right there and then. 

 

It reads  _ “the dragon hunter fleet has come into possession of a very unique dragon. You will find it on the ship Icefang, docked in the Dragonbone Isles. ~CW”.  _ There’s no hint as to  _ how  _ the thing got there, or how the mysterious informant knows this, just a cryptic note. 

 

It’s worrying. If the note is true then they have to stop Ryker, if it isn’t they could very well be flying into a trap. 

 

The Dragonbone Isles are near a hunter controlled port, and if Ryker really is going to auction off this dragon then that’s where he’d go. If that’s the case then the sooner they leave the better, that way they can get the drop on Ryker and his hunters before they even reach the port.

 

Either way, worrying over how the note arrived won’t help. The best plan right now is to call a meeting and get a second opinion.

 

He rings the bell that’s used to signal a meeting and waits.

 

The meeting starts once everyone finally shows up (Ruffnut and Tuffnut are the last to arrive, giving some excuse about pranks and wild boars). When everyone quiets down, he explains the note and how he found it.

 

Snotlout’s contribution to the conversation is “Well  _ obviously _ it’s a trap! haven’t we fallen into enough of those already?”

 

“And if it isn’t?” Hiccup points out. “We could be sentencing an innocent dragon to death if we don’t help. Anyways, whoever left the note managed to get into my workshop without alerting any of us. They could’ve just killed us in their sleep and stolen the Dragon Eye if they wanted to.”

 

“Hiccup’s got a point,” Astrid says “why go through the trouble?”

 

“I wonder what kind of dragon it could be? Ooh, maybe it’s a razorwhip!” Ruffnut exclaims.

 

Hiccup shrugs and says “the note said the dragon is unique, so it probably isn’t a razorwhip.”

 

Fishlegs looks elated at the thought of a new dragon species, and quickly starts listing off theories. Things ranging from “maybe it’s a lycanwing” to “what if it’s some sort of crossbreed?”

 

The conversation pretty much devolves into a debate about what kind of dragon it could be, which Hiccup decides to take as agreement that they’re gonna believe the note.

 

* * *

 

They finish up preparations with a few hours before sunset. For some reason the twins have decided it’s a good idea to bring the chicken along on a rescue mission, and Hiccup isn’t going to stop them. Getting into that argument is a fruitless endeavor, Tuffnut  _ really  _ likes his chicken.

 

Snotlout is staying behind to guard the Edge while they’re gone, Hiccup is pretty sure the guy had only volunteered because it meant having no supervision. Hopefully they won’t come back to find the entire place burnt down.

 

Fishlegs is staying behind to keep an eye on Snotlout, though he does seem pretty put out about not getting to see the new dragon right away.

 

Without much preamble, the four dragon riders take off, charting a course for the Dragonbone Isles. With luck they’ll arrive a few minutes after sundown, at which point they can launch their raid. Even if the tip is wrong about the rare dragon, they can still free the other captives.

 

The flight is long and monotonous. Around halfway through the twins start playing ‘I Spy’, except the answers are always variations on ocean, sky, and cloud. Hiccup is having to remind himself that no, strangling them is not an option. 

 

It’s around the thirtieth infuriating round of the game that Hiccup spots the ships. He makes the signal for silence, and points out the hunter ships. There isn’t much activity on deck, just some sleepy looking sentries.

 

Toothless swoops down, remaining in their blind spot and making it to the stern of the ship. He can hear the others follow suit as he delicately steps onto the vessel. Stealth is key, a direct confrontation could end badly for them. At least the twins are being quiet for once.

 

Oh no. He jinxed it didn’t he.

 

Sure enough, one of them trips over the other, runs into a box, and shouts “ow!” loud enough that the sentries turn around to look at them.

 

“Toothless!” He shouts, and his draconic companion shoots a couple sparking purple plasma blasts. The ship rocks with the force, and the two sentries are pushed overboard. Hiccup winces at the volume, but doesn’t hear any shouting to indicate their cover being blown.

 

“I’ll talk to you two later about the meaning of the words ‘stealth mission’” Hiccup growls at the twins. He moves swiftly to the trapdoor that leads to the caged dragons below deck and opens it cautiously. He listens a moment for any sounds from below. Hearing none, he slides down the ladder. 

 

What he sees when he reaches the bottom makes the blood in his veins turn to ice. Laying obviously unconscious in one of the dragon cages is a kid who looks even younger than Gustav. The kid had probably hit his head when the boat jolted. Dark hair falls messily into his face, and  _ gods he looks so young.  _

 

This brings up the question, why the hell is there a kid on a dragon hunting ship? The boy has a number of bruises painting his skin, and Hiccup can see dry blood coating the boy’s shirt. Who would do that to a kid? Surely even Ryker wouldn’t do this, he’s seen the man’s cruelty aimed towards dragons, enemies, and even his own men, but to do something like this?

 

Hiccup shakes himself out of his reverie. There’s time for questions later, right now he needs to get the kid out. He looks around to see if he can spot the keys, and finds them hanging on a hook by the door (the current guard is kind of terrible at his job, and decided to head to the mess hall early instead of watching the captive. Needless to say, the guy eventually gets thrown overboard for his negligence). 

 

The other riders follow him down soon after, sharing a similar reaction upon seeing the boy. Hiccup quickly unlocks the cage and checks to make sure the kid still has a pulse. The kid’s heartbeat seems slower than is healthy, but it’s there at least. 

 

“Ruff, Tuff, you two need to search the ship for any other dragons. Please be  _ quiet _ this time. Astrid, help me get this kid out.” He directs.

 

The twins look ready to argue, but a glance at the kid and their stubborn expressions ease. “Fine” they agree, in unison.

 

Astrid helps him pick up the boy (who is surprisingly light) and maneuver him up the ladder. The kid lets out a faint groan and mutters something incoherent when he bumps up against the trapdoor. 

 

When they manage to awkwardly open the thing, they find themselves face to face with Ryker. 

 

_ ‘Shit’  _ Hiccup mentally curses. At least the dragons are still hidden, so they’ve got backup, but this really isn’t a good way for things to go. It’s even worse when he notices the dragon hunters standing as backup behind Ryker. 

 

A smirk pulls across Ryker’s face, and he says “ah Hiccup, you seem to have underestimated us. Now how about you hand over the boy, and we can go our separate ways.”

 

Hiccup stands in front of the unconscious kid, blocking him from Ryker’s view, and growls “no way, Ryker. we’re not going down without a fight.”

 

Astrid draws her axe, staring down the hunters behind Ryker. 

 

The dragons choose this moment to show themselves, Toothless leaping aboard the ship and aiming a plasma blast straight for Ryker, while Barf and Belch cover the backup dragon hunters in flammable gas. Ryker predictably dodges the shot, but he’s not fast enough to completely escape the gas explosion. One of his hunters gets thrown overboard, while a couple others go down groaning.

 

Astrid takes the chance to leap into the melee, expertly dispatching the hunters’ weapons, while Hiccup defends against Ryker. Hiccup is glad he remembered to bring his shield, it’s pretty much the only thing between him and decapitation.

 

Unfortunately he can’t find an opening to go on the offensive with Ryker relentlessly battering his shield. It seems like a stalemate until a dagger thuds into Ryker’s left arm, leaving Hiccup free to bash the man with his shield.

 

Given a moment to breathe, Hiccup looks around for the source of the expertly flung weapon, expecting to see Astrid. It takes him a moment to realize that the boy is the one that had thrown the dagger, he’s tentatively upright but looks like he’ll fall over any minute. Beside the kid is an unconscious hunter who he’d likely taken the weapon from.

 

Hiccup can hear the dragons set free by the twins breaking their way to freedom, and not long after, the twins pull themselves through the trapdoor. “Aw man, why do you guys get all the fun?” Ruffnut complains, upon seeing the fight.

 

“We’re outnumbered! Get to your dragons!” Astrid shouts as hunters from the neighboring ships leap aboard.

 

Hiccup whacks Ryker with his shield once more, before running towards Toothless (scooping up the injured kid along the way) and leaping into the saddle. Astrid and the twins follow suit, and for the most part they make it out unscathed. 

 

The kid is groaning, but he seems to be mostly conscious at least. The hunters’ ship is sinking from a number of dragon caused holes in the hull, and from his aerial view Hiccup can see a bunch of men jumping ship.

 

All in all, the raid had been successful. Admittedly it was a lot less stealthy than he wanted, but hey, everyone’s still alive.

 

Of course, they hadn’t found a ‘unique dragon’, most of the captives were deadly nadders and monstrous nightmares. 

 

The dragons all seem fairly curious about the kid, and once again Hiccup wonders why the boy was on the ship in the first place. The kid definitely needs medical attention, and from this close he can see a number of old scars littering the boy’s arms. There’s also the blood, which isn’t fresh at least, but definitely means some sort of injury.

 

“Ugh… everything hurts” the kid says (it’s the first coherent thing they’ve heard from him). Then he seems to actually look around at his surroundings “wow. Okay. That’s a lot of ocean.” 

 

“Are you alright?” Hiccup asks. 

 

The boy jumps a bit, clearly startled by the sudden voice and says “well, I’m not entirely dead yet, so I guess that counts as good. Who are you guys, anyway? I kind of remember waking up, and there was people fighting, everything gets a bit blurry after that. Oh man, am I your captive now? Please tell me you actually feed your prisoners, because I really doubt I can go another day without food.”

 

Hiccup blinks at the sudden stream of words and says “uh, we aren’t taking you prisoner. We saved you from Ryker and his dragon hunters.” 

 

“Oh. Well that’s a relief, then” the kid says. “So, uh… where are we going?”

 

Astrid answers “We’re bringing you back to Dragon’s Edge, you’ll be safe there.”

 

The kid nods, considering this. “Okay then. Uh, my name’s Daniel, but I prefer being called Danny” he says, introducing himself.

 

“I’m Astrid, the two knuckleheads over there are Ruffnut and Tuffnut,” the twins have resumed their inane game of I-spy as if to prove her point, “and that’s Hiccup. We’re dragon riders.”

 

“Well it’s nice to meet some people who don’t want me dead” Danny says with a smile.

 

The trip continues in silence (aside from the twin’s bickering), despite the questions whirling around Hiccup’s head. Once or twice Danny winces in pain after inadvertently applying pressure to his torso, where the dry blood is most concentrated.

 

Danny spends most of the trip staring at the dragons, it’s like he’s never seen one before.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s a drawing of Danny’s dragon form:
> 
> Please comment with your thoughts!


	3. Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arrival, scars, and a decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this is a slightly shorter chapter.
> 
> I love the headcannon that evenwith ghostly healing Danny still gets scars and stuff, because even with his enhanced strength and durability, he’s been shot, thrown through buildings, and bitten time and time again. That has to leave at least a few marks.
> 
> Also, I have no idea how to write the twins. I feel like I’m flanderizing them into just being funny background events instead of actual characters.

One peaceful flight later, the group lands at Dragon’s Edge. 

 

Danny looks around in wonder at the various buildings illuminated by moonlight. They’re a completely different style than he’s familiar with, and the bright colors are dazzling. “Woah” he says softly.

 

“It looks even better during the day” Hiccup says with a proud smile, dismounting toothless and helping the younger teen down. 

 

A burly teen with a pudgy face comes running up “thank goodness you guys are back! Snotlout has been driving me insane! He keeps trying to blow up the twins’ boar pit!” 

 

Hiccup laughs awkwardly “sorry for leaving you with Snotlout so long, Fishlegs, but he really is one of the best people for guarding the Dragon Eye, and neither of you are very good at stealth.”

 

Fishlegs grumbles something about being plenty good at stealth, then asks “who’s the kid?”

 

“This is Danny, we found him locked up on the dragon hunter ship.” Astrid explains. “speaking of, you never actually explained why you were on that ship in the first place.”

 

_ ‘Shit, time to improvise’  _ Danny thinks. “He, uh… found me in the forest. I don’t actually know why he was out there, but he ordered his men to fire at me. Next thing I know I’m stuck in that weird green cage and only being fed every other day.” He gives a little shrug. Hopefully that’s enough to cease the questioning.

 

Astrid looks kind of suspicious, but she doesn’t look like she’s going to immediately call him out, so he should be okay for now as long as he’s careful around her.

 

Danny remembers the wound in his side and says “oh yeah, and on that subject, I really need to clean the arrow wound. I don’t want it getting infected.” 

 

His injuries have been aching this whole time, but the arrow wound is the only one painful enough to make him react. He has an absurdly high pain tolerance. Once it took him all day to realize he had dislocated his shoulder, he’s pretty sure that the portal accident that gave him ghost powers had also fried his nerve endings. 

 

“I can show you where we keep the medical supplies” Hiccup offers. “Hey, Fishlegs, can you set up the visitors hut?”

 

Fishlegs (what a strange name) nods “sure, Hiccup!”

 

The twins wander off somewhere, probably to do something ridiculous, and Astrid mutters something about keeping them from pranking Snotlout before racing after them.

 

Hiccup leads Danny towards one of the closest buildings and says “we have the healing hut set up near the dragon hangar so that if something goes wrong we don’t need to go very far. All of us have some basic medical knowledge, but Fishlegs is definitely the expert on this stuff.”

 

Danny nods “I know a lot about dealing with my own injuries, but it’s mostly just stuff like setting broken limbs and bandaging wounds.”

 

They reach the small hut, and Hiccup pushes open the door. The inside is fairly sparsely decorated, but there’s rolls of gauze, wood for splints, and a few plants that probably have a medical use. By the wall there’s a couple buckets of water, which Danny makes a beeline for.

 

The wound is in the side of his torso, but too high up to check without lifting up is shirt. The scars on his arms are usually easy to hide or explain away, but his torso has a some of the worst ones. Oh well, he isn’t in his own universe, sure the scars might make Hiccup suspicious, but it isn’t like he can make the connection to Phantom. He doesn’t need to keep up the pretense of being scared of conflict here, though he still doesn’t want to seem too suspicious.

 

Ah, to hell with it. He lifts up the blood caked shirt to check the wound. He winces at the sight of it. The puncture is a lot larger than he’d thought and the edges are tinted slightly green. It’s scabbed over, but not nearly as well as it ought to.

 

* * *

 

Hiccup stares aghast at the wound. How in the world had Danny made it this far without so much as a complaint. The kid had winced in pain a couple times during the flight over, but that seems like a massive underreaction when faced with the actual injury. It looks like it’s only just begun to scab, and the green tint at the edges definitely isn’t normal.

 

“Ah man, there really was something weird on that arrow” Danny says with a grimace.

 

Hiccup tears his eyes away from the wound, to go over to the other side of the room and get a cloth. He dunks it in the water and hands it to Danny.

 

“Thanks” the younger teen says, and starts to clean up the area around the wound.

 

It’s only then that Hiccup notices the latticework of scars across the kid’s torso. There are claw marks, burns, bites. Pretty much any kind of scar you can think of. But what draws his eye is the massive electrical scar. Hiccup knows what those look like, he has one of his own, albeit smaller. Danny’s electrical scar stretches around his upper torso, and likely trails down his back as well.

 

Danny notices where he’s looking and winces a bit. “Heh, sorry you’ve gotta see that.”

 

“I- what happened?” Hiccup asks, still staring dumbstruck at the scars “sorry, insensitive question.”

 

“It’s a long story” Danny says, wrapping his arrow wound in gauze just in case it opens up again. “it can pretty much be summed up as ‘I did something stupid’, and it’s best left at that.”

 

“I know the feeling” Hiccup says, recalling how he got his own scar. “One time I tried to prove that electricity is attracted to metal by standing in a high place with a metal rod. Needless to say, things didn’t exactly turn out well.”

 

Danny nods in sympathy.

 

“Well anyways, I’ll show you the way to the visitor hut. It’s been a while since it was last used. I’m also going to get you a change of clothes. No offense, but yours aren't in great shape.” Hiccup says

 

Danny looks down as though only just realizing that he’s covered in dried blood. “Thanks” He says sheepishly.

 

Hiccup leads the way to the visitor hut, pointing out parts of the Edge along the way. Danny nods along, looking like he’s enjoying the tour. They soon reach the visitor hut, it’s not a very long walk to get there. It had been built for when visitors from Berk come around, but there usually aren’t very many. Dragon’s Edge is a bit far to go for a casual visit.

 

The visitor hut is plain. Its furnishing consists of a desk, a shelf, and an uncomfortable looking mattress. 

 

Danny doesn’t really seem to care about the interior design (or lack thereof), and instead faceplants onto the bed without a care in the world. He’s out like a light as soon as his head touches the pillow.

 

Hiccup smiles at the sight and heads for the central meeting area. Everyone is already waiting there for him, though the twins are engaged in a staring contest and don’t even acknowledge him when he walks in. 

 

Fishlegs looks expectantly at him and asks “was the raid successful? Did you find the new dragon?”

 

Hiccup considers his answer for a moment, then says “well… the raid was successful. We freed all the dragons on the ship, and got Danny out of there, but we didn’t see any rare dragons. Pretty much all the dragons on there were deadly nadders and monstrous nightmares, neither of which are can be described as ‘unique’.”

 

Fishlegs sighs a bit at the lack of new dragons to study. Snotlout just looks smug.

 

“See! I told you it was a trap! But did you listen? No!” Snotlout says.

 

“I don’t think it was a trap,” Hiccup says “but I do think that whoever left that note knew about Danny. I mean, what are the chances of them pointing out  _ that  _ specific boat, the  _ only  _ boat that just so happens to have a human captive onboard.”

 

Astrid adds “Which brings us to the next order of business, Danny and his  _ very  _ vague explanation. Come on, I can’t be the only one here who finds it weird. Why would Ryker’s men shoot him in the first place? I mean, I would get it if he were protecting a dragon or something, but just shooting some random kid? Ryker is smarter than that. And where does the kid even come from? He’s definitely not from Berk.”

 

“Maybe he’s a lycanwing!” Tuffnut shouts.

 

“C’mon Tuff, this is serious” Hiccup chides. “There’s definitely something odd about him though. He has a lot of scars for such a young kid, he can’t be more than fourteen. Not to mention that he helped me during the fight. He threw a dagger,  _ while staggering about barely conscious _ , and still managed to hit Ryker. That was either a very lucky shot, or he’s been trained to fight under pressure.”

 

“We might as well keep an eye on him” Fishlegs says “I mean, if he’s staying on Dragon’s Edge for a while, there’s no reason we can’t supervise him. If he’s anything like Gustav, then it’s a good idea even if he is telling the truth.”

 

“Good point, Fishlegs” Hiccup says with a nod. 

 

Astrid looks skeptical, but doesn’t voice her disagreement. Snotlout is looking somewhat out of his depth, probably because he still hasn’t met Danny. 

 

The twins… well they’re off in their own world, trying to dress up chicken. At least it’s not too destructive. Wait, never mind, chicken just broke the chair somehow.

 

“Everyone in favor say ‘aye’.”

 

Tuffnut raises his hand “Aye!” A pause, “What are we agreeing with?”

 

Ruffnut whacks him in the back of his head “we’re volunteering to be babysitters, idiot.”

 

“Aye” says Astrid

 

Fishlegs obviously raises his hand and says “aye!”

 

Snotlout cracks under the pressure of everyone’s expectant gaze and mutters “aye… I guess.”

 

“Good, then that’s settled. Now to the next order of business… who used up all the monstrous nightmare gell again!?”

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiccup is mentioning events from an episode of Riders Of Berk (When Lightning Strikes) 
> 
> He was really friggin lucky not to die from being electrocuted like that, it just makes sense that he has the scar to show for it.
> 
> Please leave a comment to tell me what you think!


	4. Getting Settled In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny makes some friends, Meatlug is a sassnugget, and Astrid is suspicious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop! Another chapter!
> 
> This is kind of filler-y, but I really wanted to show Danny’s opinion on the riders. Also, electric dragons really love Danny (they think of him as a young strike class dragon) because his “death” (half death, really) was caused by electricity. Also, his ghost stinger has a constant output of electricity (but not enough to be felt by humans). To dragons sensitive to electricity he feels like a hatchling.

Hiccup wakes up bright and early the next day. Despite his late night, he doesn’t feel all that tired. He’s used to not running on a full night’s sleep after raids. Ryker’s ships have been spotted closer and closer to the Edge, so he needs to be in tip top shape, no matter what.

 

He steps out onto the platform outside his hut, not expecting to see anyone else awake. Astrid is the only other early riser, and she’s usually out patrolling around this time, though she does sometimes stop by his hut to wake him up.

 

Instead of seeing Astrid, he spots Danny sitting down by the cove with… is that a pod of seashockers?

 

Yep, it is. 

 

Danny is smiling and talking to them while some of the adolescent seashockers from the pod play around in the water. The adult seashockers and the youngest ones are all gathered around Danny, the deep sea dragons seemingly perfectly content to listen to him ramble. He’s wearing new, non blood covered, clothes and he doesn’t seem at all bothered by the small sparks of electricity being let off by the seashockers.

 

“Well that’s unexpected.” Hiccup says to himself. Seashockers are usually fairly aggressive toward humans, and they don’t surface very often. Their electric abilities are enough to make even grown vikings wary, but here Danny is, chilling with an entire pod of them.

 

Hiccup traverses the layers of platforms separating his hut from the cove, and eventually comes to a stop near Danny. The seashockers hiss as he draws nearer, and swim back into a deeper part of the cove.

 

Danny turns to look at him and says “Oh, good morning. I’m not really used to getting a full night’s sleep, so I woke up kinda early. I didn’t see anyone else awake, so I decided to explore. Sorry.”

 

“It’s fine, Astrid and I are pretty much the only early risers here anyways.” Hiccup says. He looks out across the cove to where the seashockers are leaving “seashockers are usually deep sea dragons, I wonder what they were doing up here?”

 

Danny shrugs “they showed up a little while after I sat down here.”

 

“Well anyways, do you want to help me feed the night terrors?”

 

“Night terrors?”

 

“Yeah, they’re our sentry dragons. I usually feed them around this time.” Hiccup explains.

 

“Okay sure, I’ll help. I don’t really have anything else to do” Danny says with a shrug. “Man, it’s weird to actually have free time.”

 

* * *

 

Danny doesn’t really know what to think of the dragon riders. 

 

Astrid reminds him of Sam, with her general attitude and willingness to punch people. Danny can tell she’s suspicious of him, but she hasn’t outright confronted him yet, so he isn’t too worried.

 

The twins are crazy. There’s really no other adjective that could do them justice. They’re always off pranking people or pulling ridiculous stunts, and they seem to really like explosions.

 

Danny hasn’t met Snotlout yet, but according to Astrid he’s a knucklehead with delusions of grandeur.

 

Meanwhile, Hiccup seems like a counterbalance to his more eccentric teammates, with his level headedness and ability to diffuse conflict. He’s not a natural born leader, he’s someone who’s had to work hard and make mistakes to get to where he is. It’s not inborn talent, it’s hard work that’s gotten him to this point. 

 

Fishlegs kind of seems like the odd man out. He’s soft spoken, obsessed with information, and a complete doormat. Currently Danny is helping him rearrange his rock garden.

 

It’s slow going, Fishlegs is very precise in where he wants the boulders set, and to make things even more tedious, Meatlug keeps on eating them. Danny knows it’s intentional because she’s sniggering at him.

 

Yet another carefully placed rock disappears down her gullet. 

 

“Oh come on!” Danny shouts in exasperation, throwing his hands over his head in defeat. 

 

“Me? I didn’t do anything” Meatlug says innocently. 

 

Oh yeah, that’s another thing. Danny can talk to dragons. Apparently the others can’t do that. 

 

He hasn’t told them yet, his paranoia is a bit too deep set to confide in virtual strangers. He knows that his refusal to give information about himself is making him seem suspicious, and it isn’t like it’s helping him any, but he’s so used to keeping his secret that he isn’t sure he’d even be able to tell them.

 

Danny is pretty sure the reason he can understand dragons is because of his dragon form. He still has yet to experiment with it since there’s always someone keeping an eye on him. 

 

He supposes it makes sense, he’s an outsider and this is their base of operations. It would be stupid to let him wander wherever he pleases. Of course, that doesn’t make it any less irritating.

 

A few powers still work in human form, but not nearly as many as he’s used to. Invisibility works, but it seems to be camouflage instead of true invisibility. He can manipulate ice while in human form, but not nearly as much as in his home universe. 

 

It takes way longer than it should to finish up the rock garden, and of  _ course  _ as soon as they finish, the twins show up and trash it. Both Danny and Fishlegs glare at their retreating backs.

 

“Well. That was a couple hours wasted.” Danny says flatly.

 

“They keep doing stupid stuff like this! Why can’t they just leave my garden in peace?” Fishlegs complains, gathering up some of the scattered rocks.

 

Danny helps Fishlegs round up all the out of place rocks and prepares for another boring two hours of work. Needless to say, he isn’t a big fan of the twins.

 

In fact, it takes three hours, and by the time they finish it’s already time for dinner. Meatlug flies them up to the mess hall/meeting area, for which Danny is very grateful. He feels dead tired. Apparently rock gardening is a really good workout. 

 

A rather large part of dinner consists of Danny, Meatlug, and Fishlegs sending glares in the direction of Ruffnut and Tuffnut. The twins don’t actually seem to notice, much to their chagrin.

 

“What did they do this time?” Hiccup asks after ten minutes of the intense glaring match.

 

“They messed up my rock garden! Again!” Fishlegs says grumpily.

 

“We had to redo the whole thing from scratch…” Danny groans.

 

Tuffnut grins at Ruffnut “heck yeah! Told you Fishlegs would totally redo it! Pay up!”

 

Ruffnut begrudgingly hands over a bag of coins while Hiccup facepalms in the background. “C’mon you guys, Fishlegs and Danny worked really hard on that garden.”

 

“Pfft, it’s not a garden, it’s a bunch of  _ rocks” _ the teen Danny assumes is Snotlout snickers. He kind of makes Danny think of a viking version of Dash.

 

“Hey! I’ll have you know, those are some very rare rocks!” Fishlegs says defensively.

 

“Sure they are Fishlegs, you keep telling yourself that” Snotlout laughs mockingly.

 

“I never want to see another rock in my life. Ever.” Danny says, setting his head down on the table.

 

* * *

 

That night Danny finally manages to get enough privacy to check out his dragon form. He sneaks out of the visitor hut and down into the forest, careful not to wake anyone. 

 

When he’s certain no one has followed him, he transforms. 

 

Yep, his legs are definitely different feeling. The proportions have changed around a bit, but he gets the hang of walking around soon enough. The wings are the tricky bit. While they do replace his arms, they don’t move like it, and it takes a lot of trial and error to figure out how they work.

 

Now for the biggest challenge: flight.

 

First step is getting up off the ground. Flapping his wings to try and get airborne proves fruitless, but when he taps into the familiar part of his core where his flight powers are stored, he has a far more promising takeoff.

 

Danny finds that flying in dragon form is actually a mix of wing movement and the familiar ghostly lack of gravity. Before long he’s soaring around like he’s done his whole life, whooping in delight at the feeling of freedom. He’s always loved flying, it’s exhilarating to feel the wind in his face like this. 

 

His landing isn’t very graceful, but there are no new bruises so he counts it as a win. When he’s untangled himself from the tree branch he’d run into, he decides to start checking out his powerset. 

 

His shields are working as normal, but his ghostly wail has become some sort of sonar. Ectoblasts and iceblasts are his dragon breath weapons now, but he can’t exactly figure out his ghost stinger. He can feel that it’s there, but it doesn’t activate like normal. He can definitely still go invisible (well, camouflage).

 

He returns to his hut when the moon reaches its peak. Sleeping is important, and it’s nice not to be woken up all the time by ghosts that want to kill him, take over the world, or marry his mom.

 

For once he actually gets a peaceful night of sleep. 

 

* * *

 

The next day, Astrid wakes Danny up at the crack of dawn. 

 

“Guess who’s taking you on patrol!” She says loudly, kicking open the door.

 

Danny, contrary to her expectations, wakes up immediately without so much as a “Five more minutes…”

 

In fact, he seems bright and awake for this time of the morning, leaping up and looking around frantically as soon as he hears her voice.

 

He blinks, taking a moment to reorient himself. “Oh uh, sure” Danny says. “it’s gotta be better than rock gardening.”

 

Astrid leads the way to the dragon pens. She had heard about his early morning exploration yesterday, and is determined to keep him busy. She doesn’t want a total stranger wandering around the Edge unsupervised, especially if there’s any possibility of him being a spy. Considering how their first meeting with Heather had gone, she refuses to take chances.

 

She watches him like a hawk the whole way there. It probably isn’t necessary, it’s not like he’s gonna run off right there and then, but it eases her worries a bit. Danny looks absolutely fascinated by the Edge, occasionally mumbling about improvements that could make it more defendable. 

 

Astrid is slightly impressed by a few of the suggestions, not that she’d ever admit it. Having an easy way to block off the cove from the ocean could actually be pretty useful. It would add another much needed layer of defense, and give them more time to react to an invasion.

 

Once they reach the hangar, she saddles up Stormfly. Astrid easily leaps up into the saddle, but Danny needs some help getting up. He’s fairly short for a fourteen year old, and he’s definitely not used to dragons. It’s actually rather odd. He doesn’t act scared of them, he acts like he’s never encountered one before Dragon’s Edge.

 

Stormfly takes off from the platform with a powerful flap of her wings. A bright smile crosses Danny’s face as they fly. Astrid grins too, she’ll never get tired of the feeling of flight. As a kid she had always dreamed of flying, and this likely the closest she’ll ever come to reaching that dream.

 

Stormfly, taking the chance to show off, does a few barrel rolls. Astrid’s grin widens at Danny’s surprised squeak. 

 

Still, it’s time to be on task, so Astrid instructs Stormfly to level out their flight. 

 

“Watch for ships,” she instructs Danny “we don’t want any dragon hunters getting the jump on us. We’ve been spotting them closer and closer to the Edge, it’s possible that they’re preparing an invasion force.”

 

Danny nods dutifully, and scans the waves below. They do a couple rounds of the surrounding islands before heading back.

 

Unfortunately for them, they miss the opening of a swirling green portal and the heavily armored figure that falls through. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s a list of Danny’s abilities:
> 
> Ectoblast- dragon breath weapon  
> Ice- dragon breath weapon, can be used in human form  
> Invisibility- camouflage, can be used in human form  
> Intangibility- nope  
> Ghostly wail- sonar  
> Flight- his draconic flight defies gravity a bit, but he still needs his wings  
> Shields- can be used in both human and dragon form  
> Ghost stinger- electrically charged bites (both human form and dragon form) and a field of electricity  
> Overshadowing- nope  
> Duplication- nope  
> Healing- both ghost and human form, not very quick  
> Teleportation- only accidentally   
> Ghost sense- just heightened awareness/reflexes and knowing when a dragon is near


	5. Back In Amity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jazz is intimidating, Valerie is confused, and Skulker has a bad idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time doesn’t move linearly between the two universes, it’s constantly fluctuating (add in Clockwork messing with the time stream so that everything happens correctly, and well...)

Back in Amity Park, Jazz is panicking. At first she had just assumed Danny was over at Tucker’s house, he sometimes stays over there when ghost hunting is getting a little too stressful, but he’s been gone for almost a week and Jazz is running out of excuses to give her parents.

 

Usually he would at least leave some sort of note, something to say where he is, but it seems like he’s just dropped off the face of the earth. She had asked Sam and Tucker if they’d seen him, but apparently they’re just as confused as she is. 

 

Jazz had gotten desperate enough to track down  _ Skulker  _ and demand her brother’s whereabouts. She actually managed to intimidate him too, but he hadn’t been able to tell her anything either. 

 

Considering Skulker’s near stalkerish obsession with getting her brother’s pelt, him not knowing Danny’s location is worrying. 

 

Currently, she’s digging through her parents’ ghost hunting junk to try and find something to track Danny with. Unfortunately the boo-merang is broken (dad had sat down on it sometime last week, snapping it in two) and she doesn’t know enough about ghost tech to use most of this stuff. She dumps everything that looks useful into a box for Tucker to figure out. He’s way better with technology that her.

 

They’re all dealing with Danny being missing in different ways. Sam is even more aggressive than usual, storming about in a foul temper, and Tucker’s definitely not getting enough sleep, he’s so jittery with caffeine and nerves that half the time no one can understand what he’s saying. Even Valerie seems to know something’s up.

 

Speaking of Valerie, Jazz nearly rams into her on the way out the door. Valerie is standing outside, looking like she had been just about to knock.

 

“Valerie? What are you doing here?” Jazz asks, trying to inconspicuously hide the ghost hunting tech behind her back.

 

“Uh, hi. Can we talk?” Valerie asks.

 

“Sure…?” Jazz leads her inside to the living room. “What did you want to talk about? I kinda have somewhere I need to be, so if you could make it quick that’d be appreciated.”

 

“I know what’s happened to your brother.” She says matter of factly.

 

Jazz glances around awkwardly “heh, what are you talking about? he’s just got a cold. What’s there to know?”

 

“Oh come on, don’t give me that junk, clearly he’s been kidnapped by the ghost boy!”

 

Jazz stares in bafflement for a moment. “No,” She says slowly, like she’s speaking to a child. “He hasn’t been kidnapped by the ghost boy. That is literally the farthest thing from the truth.”

 

“Well, what else could’ve happened?” Valerie snaps.

 

“Look, you’re right that he’s not actually sick, but there’s a bit more to it than that.” Jazz sighs, this is gonna take a lot of explaining “y’know what, you have a right to know what’s going on. Come with me, and we’ll explain everything. You just have to promise not to try and murder anyone.”

 

Jazz doesn’t wait for Valerie to respond, instead pulling her out the door and toward Sam’s house (their current base of operations).

 

“Danny has been gone for nearly a week, we’re eighty percent sure he’s somewhere in the ghost zone” she explains as they walk. 

 

“Why would he be in there?” Valerie asks skeptically.

 

“Reasons that I’m not going to discuss in public. Anyways, Tucker and Sam know more about it than I do.”

 

They reach the house and Jazz knocks on the door. Sam answers it, looking even more goth than normal, and scowls at Valerie. “What’s  _ she  _ doing here?!” The angry girl spits.

 

Valerie frowns and says “hey, I’m Danny’s friend too.”

 

“She saw through the ‘Danny’s sick’ excuse. I figure it might be a good idea to have another pair of hands out searching for Danny. I brought her here so you and Tucker could tell her everything.”

 

“Wait, seriously. You want  _ us  _ to tell  _ her  _ everything? It’s Danny’s secret! Who’s to say she won’t immediately run off to the Guys In White?!” Sam demands, looking about ready to slam the door in their faces.

 

“Uh, why would I-“ Valerie starts, only to be interrupted by Jazz.

 

“She cares about Danny, and anyways, this is probably the best time to tell her. She can’t actively hunt him down and shoot him while he’s missing like this, and if she does that’s actually helpful to us because  _ we still can’t find Danny _ .”

 

“Fine! Whatever!” Sam shouts, glaring daggers at Valerie “She can come in, but I still don’t trust her!”

 

Sam gets out of the way, scowl still in place. Jazz drags the very confused Valerie inside and into the basement they’ve set up as their home base. Sam’s parents are out of town for nearly a month and her grandmother is visiting friends in London, so they have the house to themselves for the time being. 

 

Tucker is sitting at the table and tinkering away on some bit of machinery. He jumps a whole five feet when Jazz lightly taps him on the shoulder.

 

He sits for a moment, blinking at them in confusion, before asking “what’s Val doing here?”

 

“She’s going to help us find Danny.” Jazz says matter-of-factly. “I need you to tell her  _ everything _ .”

 

“Wait… you want us to tell her  _ everything?  _ Like,  _ everything,  _ everything? Are you out of your mind?!”

 

“No. I’m not out of my mind. And yes, I’m asking you to tell her everything.”

 

Tucker looks like he’s going to protest, but one look at her expression and he reconsiders. Jazz’s ‘big sister glare’ is both terrifying and effective.

 

“Well, it all started when we went over to Danny’s house to check out the ghost portal…” 

 

Tucker’s explanation is definitely not concise, but he manages to get through it without Valerie whacking him over the head with a table, so it probably counts as a win. Valerie goes through a number of emotions over the course of the explanation, but most are variations on confusion and anger.

 

“Why wouldn’t he tell me!?” She shouts, causing Tucker to flinch away. “I- the only reason I broke up with him was because I didn’t want him getting hurt! All those times  _ I  _ was the reason he was nearly killed!”

 

“Well, to be fair, he hasn’t told mom and dad either” Jazz says placatingly. “Heck, he didn’t exactly  _ tell  _ any of us. I found out by accident, and Sam and Tucker were there when the accident happened. He was afraid that you would hate him.”

 

Valerie seems to deflate at that. “All those times I almost…”

 

“He doesn’t hold it against you y’know-“

 

“But he  _ should! _ ” Valerie cries “I-I’ve shot at him! I’ve tried to kill him!”

 

Jazz pats her on the back reassuringly and says firmly “Yes, you have. And you know what? He forgives you. You have your heart in the right place, you were just a little misinformed, is all.”

 

* * *

 

Skulker is thoroughly shaken from his interaction with the sibling of Phantom. How can such a small human be so terrifying? He shudders to think what would happen if she were ever to try and take over the ghost zone. she could probably conquer it by force of will alone. 

 

Skulker really hopes she never decides to give it a try.

 

“It’s fine. I’m not a five year old who’s been sent to time out, I’m Skulker, the Ghost Zone’s greatest hunter.” He says as he floats through the swirling green mass, trying to convince himself of the fact. Right. Think hunter-y thoughts. 

 

Hunting… hunting… hunting…

 

Yeah, that’s not helping. 

 

Phantom’s sister had mentioned something about Phantom being missing right? Surely a hunt would get his mind off of things, and what better prey to chase than the ever elusive ghost child. If even his friends can’t find him, it must be a challenge!

 

Of course, in his excitement for a new hunt he forgets the wrath he’ll incur if he actually kills the ghost child, instead fantasizing about the addition to his trophy wall.

 

Next stop, his lair. He’s got a bunch of tech for his suit stored there, and he can probably jury rig some of it into some sort of Phantom-finder. 

 

Let’s see… useless junk, scrap metal, dentures (why does he even have those?), and- ah! Here it is! 

 

He pulls what looks like a GPS out of the pile of busted inventions and starts tinkering with it. He had originally built it as a ghost sensor to keep Technus from raiding his gear storage, but it hadn’t actually helped much (Technus had made something to knock out the sensor and rubbed it in his face for  _ weeks _ ).

 

It doesn’t take nearly as long as he thought it would to key into Phantom’s ecto-signature. 

 

He looks down at the blinking tracker and grins. The hunt is on!

 

Skulker flies through the ghost zone, somewhat surprised by how far out the signal is. Phantom usually stays near his portal while in the Ghost Zone.

 

When he reaches the place indicated by the tracker though, he doesn’t see hide nor hair of the ghost child. It isn’t until a swirling green vortex that his suit identifies as a dimensional portal opens, that he understands. If possible, his grin widens at the sight.

 

Now things are getting  _ interesting. _

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to apologize a bit for how I dealt with Valerie finding out. I would love to dedicate a massive chunk of text to her working through her feelings in a realistic manner, but this really isn’t the focus of the fic. Maybe later I’ll write a reveal fic, but this is meant to be a fun and mostly lighthearted crossover and Valerie isn’t very integral to the story.


	6. Calm Before The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Night terrors are good friends to have, Danny is actually pretty athletic, and Skulker is skulking around.

The dragons all seem completely convinced that Danny is a hatchling. They keep trying to feed him regurgitated fish, despite his embarrassed protests that he can feed himself. 

 

One time he almost falls off one of the platforms and Toothless catches him by the scruff of his shirt. He spends the next hour listening to a lecture on being careful and the importance of situational awareness. 

 

Danny is absolutely mortified when he realizes the dragon riders had shown up half way through. The twins aren’t even bothering to hide their laughter, nor are the other dragons.

 

“And don’t do it again!” Toothless finishes. 

 

“Okay, okay, I’ll be more careful!” Danny says “geez, you’re such a mother hen.”

 

Tuffnut’s chicken screeches indignantly and narrows its beady little chicken eyes.  

 

“No offense to Chicken” Danny adds.

 

The chicken gives him a look that says “that’s what I thought.”

 

Danny looks around at the amused faces of the dragon riders and laughs awkwardly. “So… was there something you wanted?”

 

“I want a warship!” Tuffnut shouts, completely missing the group’s facepalm.

 

“Not exactly what I meant” Danny says dryly.

 

“I was actually looking for toothless, I couldn’t find him in the stables. What was he chewing you out about?” Hiccup asks.

 

“Nearly fell off the platform…” Danny mumbles, cherry red with embarrassment. “I’m normally more aware of my surroundings, but I thought I saw something in the bushes and tried to get a closer look. If there was something there, it’s probably long gone though.”

 

Astrid confidently says “That’s okay, if there’s anyone on this island that shouldn’t be, we’ll find them.” 

 

Danny smiles, but he can’t help the worry lodged in his mind. Being on guard when everything seems a bit too quiet is an instinct borne of too many nights spent ghost hunting. He can feel trouble approaching, as it always does when nothing bad has happened to him for a while. 

 

Sam had always called it paranoia, but it’s gotten him out of a few sticky situations. Even back home, he can’t always rely on his ghost sense. Some of the craftier ghosts hide until they decide it’s time to strike, and after the close call with Spectra he’s not taking any chances. When something seems off, it usually is.

 

Most of the dragon riders disperse, leaving him alone with Astrid.

 

“Hiccup mentioned you helped him out during the raid,” she says, “so I wanna check out your fighting skills.”

 

“I mean, I threw a dagger, it’s not like I was actually fighting. I gave him a distraction, but beyond that I didn’t do much.” Danny says flatly. He’s actually okay with bladed weapons, good enough to be more of a danger to enemies than himself at least, but it isn’t like he could hold his own in a fight against someone who knows what they’re doing. Clockwork was the one to suggest learning how to fight, and Danny is getting the sneaking suspicion the time ghost had foreseen this unplanned vacation.

 

“It can’t hurt to find out what you know” Astrid says, leading him to the training area. There are a couple targets set up, and what looks like an quickly put together obstacle course. In the corner are a few crates of weapons, mostly full of maces, axes, and swords. 

 

“Alright, first we’re going to test your accuracy. You mentioned throwing a dagger, right? We’ve got a few throwing knives laying around,” she starts digging through the crates, eventually pulling out a set of throwing knives. They’re a slightly different weight than Danny’s used to, and they aren’t all the same make, but they’re still useable.

 

Astrid leads him to a marked off area in front of the targets. “There are two close targets, one elevated target, and a few smaller targets. See if you can hit them all.” She instructs.

 

The close targets and elevated target are easy, the throwing knives thud into the thin wood, two of the three getting a bullseye. The small targets are a bit trickier, they’re all placed at odd angles, but he still manages to hit them. Having ectoblasts as his main attack definitely improved his hand eye coordination, and throwing knives were the only weapon he really excelled at. He had picked up the skill almost immediately after he first started training.

 

Astrid looks pleasantly surprised by his skill. 

 

The rest of the tests don’t go as well. He doesn’t absolutely fail, but he still has a lot to learn about fighting. Maces are too unwieldy, and while he’s got the strength to hit hard, he’s not used to moving with so much weight. Axes run into the same issue, the weapon is massive and he keeps overbalancing.

 

He’s definitely better with a sword than the other weapons, but his finesse is lacking. Luckily that’s something that can be fixed with a bit of practice. 

 

Eventually Astrid has him run the obstacle course. The speed Danny completes it with surprises even himself. He suspects that if his gym teacher were here she would’ve stared slack jawed at his feat of agility. 

 

This is the first time he’s gotten to show off in a while, and man does it feel good. Back in Amity Park he’s usually stuck pretending to be his old wimpy self from before the portal accident, but here he can let loose without anyone questioning his rapid improvement.

 

Astrid gives him a few tips on how to improve his sword fighting, but suggests he talk to Hiccup for more advice. Apparently Hiccup is a really good sword fighter. Danny wouldn’t have guessed it from looking at the guy, then again, nobody who looks at Danny would guess he’s strong enough to pick up a grown human. Danny’s scrawny looks have made many an enemy underestimate him, heck, it’s probably the only reason no one has made the connection between Phantom and Fenton.

 

Before he can continue that train of thought, one of the Night Terrors lands on his shoulder. It’s one of the ones Danny has befriended during his time on the Edge. His name is Upper Left Wing Scout (night terrors are named for their location in the giant dragon shape they form and any notable skills. ‘Smidvarg’ is actually ‘Eye Who Watches’) but Danny has taken to calling him Scout since it’s less of a mouthful.

 

“The two humans who are friends with Eye Who Watches have left their post again!” Scout reports. Danny fights the urge to sigh. 

 

Astrid is giving him an odd look, and he awkwardly excuses himself. The riders have been lightening up on the constant supervision, it’s been a little over a week since he’d arrived on Dragon’s Edge, and he hasn’t given them much reason to distrust him. He’s thankful for the increased freedom sat times like this. Dragons aren’t the most discrete of creatures, they just don’t get subtlety.

 

“Gather a few of your friends and annoy the twins until they get back to guard duty. I saw Fisher and Claw a little while ago, they’d probably be willing to help.” Danny instructs Scout once he’s out of earshot of Astrid. 

 

He’s had the night terrors report to him about what’s happening on the island, which is how he found out about how often the twins have been slacking off from guard duty. Scout and his friends have been helping Danny get the twins back on track. 

 

Danny is honestly pretty annoyed with the twins, they’re endangering the entire island just to slack off. 

 

Apparently Astrid shares that sentiment. She’s been grumbling about them under her breath for the past few days. 

 

Even Fishlegs is a little annoyed with them, and from what Danny’s seen, the guy is usually pretty chill.

 

Danny, not for the first time, wonders why the twins haven’t been reprimanded yet. It’s probably a lost cause in any case, but someone should at least try. He hasn’t found a good time to call them out on it, and it isn’t like he has any reasonable way to explain how he knows.

 

Oh well, even the twins shouldn’t be able to cause too many problems before Danny figures out some way to get them to actually stay on watch…

 

* * *

Ryker is not entirely sure what to think of his new business partner. The imposing man had offered the location of the dragon hunters in exchange for a chance at the mystery dragon’s pelt. Ryker had obviously agreed, and even more obviously has no intention to keep the agreement. 

 

‘Skulker’ or whatever his name is, definitely acts like a hunter, but he doesn’t know a damn thing about dragons. It’s rather odd really, considering the man’s dragon skull helmet and obsession with hunting anything that gives a challenge. Apparently he has deemed dragons challenging enough for his taste, because he’s knocking every dragon hunting record out of the water.

 

He’s trapped more dragons in three days than most hunters trap in three weeks. His single mindedness is baffling, but admirable. Skulker has been spying on the riders and gathering information on them. In fact, he’s identified a rather glaring weakness in the Dragon’s Edge defenses. The blonde twins are apparently gone most of their shift, leaving the dragon rider base open to attack.

 

The current plan is to get men in place, set up a foothold while the twins are gone, and send in a small fleet to attack through the rider’s cove as a distraction while the rest of the men prepare to attack from the other direction and catch the dragon riders unawares.

 

Viggo isn’t the only strategic thinker in the family. Where Viggo focuses on people and manipulating them to his own ends, Ryker is an expert in battle tactics and striking where unexpected. 

 

Most people, upon seeing his muscular frame and propensity for violence, assume that Ryker is an idiotic brute, but behind his cruel eyes is a mind like a steel trap. Sure, in comparison to his brother he isn’t that impressive, but compared to his brother  _ no one  _ is impressive, so there’s no great shame in that.

 

Ryker will let Skulker hunt the mystery dragon, but he isn’t going to let the obsessive man kill it. The dragon will sell far better alive, after all. He’ll have some men stationed nearby in case Skulker decides to kill it right there and then. It would be a shame to lose the man’s allegiance, but they can probably buy him back to their side easily enough.

 

Dagur and Heather don’t seem to like Skulker very much. All of the man’s conversations seem designed to boost his own hyper-inflated ego, which really doesn’t sit well with either of the berserkers. Dagur keeps trying (and failing) to one up the new hunter. 

 

Ambition is all well and good, but Skulker is far better at dragon hunting than Dagur will ever be. Skulker’s boastfulness is at least somewhat earned, though it’s getting on even Ryker’s nerves as time goes on. 

 

Does the guy  _ really  _ have to tell  _ everyone  _ about literally every dragon he catches? At this rate men might desert just so they don’t have to hear Skulker's incessant chatter.

 

A few enterprising hunters are making a small fortune selling earplugs to the rest. At some point Ryker is going to have to start taxing it, if only to keep his men from getting too uppity. 

 

Oh well, as irritating as he is, Skulker is definitely a useful ally.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s Skulker’s HTTYD redesign:
> 
> Sorry to anyone hoping he’d be a dragon, but this works better plot wise. Don’t worry though, a couple other ghosts will be coming through.
> 
> Please leave a comment to tell me what you think!


	7. Edge Of Disaster Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiccup underestimates the twins, Astrid is liable to explode, and Danny makes a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first chapter that will be following (loosely) the plot of an episode. There will obviously be changes, it would be boring to just write a transcript of the episodes, and the presence of certain characters is having a ripple effect.
> 
> I’m definitely not going to do all the episodes, there are a lot of them where it wouldn’t really make sense for Danny to be involved, and there are a lot that I don’t really feel like rehashing since Danny’s presence wouldn’t change anything. Some chapters will take place during an episode, but only have it going on in the background.

Danny keeps falling asleep in weird places. Now, for example, he’s peacefully napping on the slanted roof of someone’s hut. At least half the flock of night terrors are dogpiled on top of him and gently snoring.

 

He would have stayed like that for a few more hours if not for the argument going on below. Danny wakes up to the sound of Astrid ranting about the twins and their shenanigans. 

 

He yawns tiredly, startling the night terrors from their perch. Scout refuses to move from his place on Danny’s head and squawks in irritation as Danny sits up. Danny pokes his head over the edge of the roof and eagerly asks “Are the twins finally getting in trouble for one of their stupid stunts?”

 

Astrid looks up at him in surprise. “What are you doing on the roof?”

 

“Napping” He says as though sleeping on rooftops is absolutely normal. 

 

Hiccup, who was apparently the one being ranted at, is currently distracted by a letter. The little terrible terror that delivered the message is gorging itself on fish while it thinks no one’s looking at it. 

 

“It’s from Johann,” Hiccup explains when he sees Astrid and Danny’s curious expressions. “He’s in trouble. According to the letter, his ship is surrounded by dragon hunters.”

 

“Er, who’s Johann?” Danny asks.

 

“Trader Johann is a merchant who operates around here, he’s a good person to go to when you need information.” Hiccup explains, already walking toward the dragon stables. “Can you go find Fishlegs and Snotlout? Tell them to meet me at the stables.”

 

Danny nods and heads off in search of them. With a bit of help from the night terrors, he’s able to locate them in record time. Fishlegs was out in the forest cataloguing the island’s plant species, and Snotlout was napping in his hut. Now both of them are standing in front of the dragon stables with Danny (it had taken a lot of convincing to get Snotlout to come at all, the guy is stubborn as an ox).

 

Hiccup is saddling up Toothless and fitting together some sort of armor. When he notices them arrive, he says “great, you actually managed to find them. Snotlout, get Hookfang’s dragon armor, Fishlegs, saddle up Meatlug. You two are coming with me. Astrid, Danny, and the twins are staying on the Edge.”

 

“You’re leaving me here with  _ them!?”  _ Astrid shouts, pointing at the twins.

 

“They aren’t  _ that  _ bad,” Hiccup says. “Hookfang and Toothless are the only ones with dragon armor and Meatlug isn’t affected by dragonroot arrows. This is a rescue mission, we can’t afford to have anyone out of commission.”

 

Astrid looks like she’s going to protest, and Danny can’t blame her. The only person who can sort of keep the twins under control is Hiccup, without him they’ll be up to their ears in practical jokes by lunch.

 

“We’ll be back before they can cause too much chaos” Hiccup reassures, clearly underestimating natural disaster otherwise known as Ruffnut and Tuffnut with the run of the island.

 

* * *

 

Danny has somehow ended up playing peacekeeper between the twins and Astrid as they pile up lumber. He isn’t entirely sure of the purpose of the aforementioned lumber, but apparently Astrid thinks it’s necessary. 

 

After a few too many close calls, Danny moves the pile away from the cliff edge. 

 

The twins are pretty inefficient, but they had built a pretty good zip line (Danny had swiftly explained its tactical use in order to convince Astrid not to throttle one of them). They’re fast at things they want to do, which Danny is taking advantage of. Turns out the two of them are crazy competitive.

 

Unfortunately he can’t keep them entirely under control, and Astrid is on her last nerve. One more idiotic stunt and Astrid may well explode. 

 

It seems that the twins have no survival instinct though, because they just have to play a prank on her.

 

And that’s why the twins are now sulking on the other side of the island, and Astrid is giving anything that moves death glare. A poor little bunny had hopped into her line of sight and fainted from the sheer force of her anger. 

 

Danny decides now would be a good time for tactical retreat, so he heads back to the huts to hang out with some of the night terrors. Scout greets him as soon as he returns, settling into his usual spot in Danny’s hair.

 

“Good to see you too” he laughs.

 

Not seeing anything else to do, Danny goes to hang out by the cove. He takes off his shoes and dips his feet into the shallow water. Most people would find it freezing, but his ice core means that it just feels pleasantly cool.

 

He hadn’t really seen the sea much back in his own dimension. His family doesn’t vacation well, and his dad is blacklisted by at least forty vacation sites. They had visited the ocean once, but they got kicked out of the hotel in less than a week.

 

The crashing sound of distant waves is strangely calming, and the wide blue expanse gives him something to rest his eyes on as he thinks. He wishes his friends were here to see it too. 

 

He would have continued in his reverie, but Fisher (one of the night terrors that had become fond of him) swoops down to deliver some rather alarming news. “Hunters spotted on the other end of the territory!” She screeches “they got one of Eye Who Watches’ friends!”

 

Danny leaps up “where are they at? How many men?” He asks quickly.

 

“They’re near the furthest guard post! I don’t know how many, but there are a lot, and they all have weapons.”

 

“This is bad.” Danny says, in the understatement of the year. “Let’s see, First I need to warn Astrid, then we need some way to get whichever twin was captured out. Oh man, these defenses aren’t built to defend from the inner island, they’re meant to keep out ships, we’re totally screwed. Keep an eye on the hunters, but don’t let them see you. If anything important happens, come tell me right away.”

 

Fisher nods and flies off, Scout follows her. Danny runs toward where he last saw Astrid. Thankfully she’s still there. Okay, time to come up with a reliable excuse for knowing this information.

 

“The night terrors are acting really freaked out, I think something might be wrong,” He says. “Maybe we should scout the island, make sure that everything’s fine.”

 

Astrid looks glad to have a break from carrying lumber, but she still looks dubious. God dammit, now is not the time to wait around asking ridiculous questions. “C’mon let's go!” He says insistently, pulling her along behind.

 

They reach the hangar quickly, Astrid seemingly picking up on the tense atmosphere. She still gives off a slightly confused feeling, but at least now she’s doing something instead of asking him things he can’t answer. 

 

Pretty soon Stormfly is saddled up and they’re riding the air currents across the island. When they near the watchtower, they spot a panicking Tuffnut. Stormfly lands, coming to a stop next to him. 

 

“What’s wrong Tuff?” Astrid asks.

 

“Dragon hunters! They have Ruffnut!” He shouts, confirming what Danny already knew.

 

“What?!” 

 

Danny is already ticking off ways to improve the defenses in his mind. “We’ll need to make the Edge defendable. It’s set up to protect against enemies coming by sea and air, but not by foot. We’ll have to rig up some booby traps around the island, nothing to complex though, we probably don’t have much time before they take the offensive…” Danny mutters to himself. “We’re definitely outnumbered, what we need is some way to either turn that to our advantage or to thin the herd.”

 

Astrid looks like she’s itching to take charge, so Danny quickly finishes with “Hey Tuffnut, you’re good at pranks right? Well, booby traps are like that, except you’re allowed to make them more dangerous. I’m putting you in charge of traps, just don’t make anything with a chance of killing anyone, maiming is fine.”

 

Tuffnut grins and pulls off a salute “Sure can do!” Then he runs off toward his hut, to go get supplies. The responsibility also serves the secondary purpose of taking Tuffnut’s mind off his captured twin.

“Why would you tell him to trap the forest? We need all hands on deck right now, and he’ll probably just slack off without supervision!” Astrid shouts.

 

“I told him to trap the forest because it will give us more time to prepare our defenses, and it’ll reduce the hunters’ numbers. I also did it because we really don’t need him panicking an a combat situation.  _ His sister is being held hostage by enemy forces,  _ how the hell do you think that makes him feel? He won’t slack off, not with so much on the line.” Danny retorts icily. He really hates it when he has to spell out things like this. Normally  _ he’s  _ the one everyone calls clueless.

 

He dreads to think what he would do if Jazz were captured by someone like Vlad or Skulker. Considering the circumstances, Tuffnut is handling the situation well.

 

Astrid looks somewhat cowed by the rant, and Danny feels a pang or guilt.

 

“Sorry,” He says “but you needed to hear it. I know you don’t like the twins, but at times like this you can’t let things like that get in your way.”

 

Astrid shakes herself out of the daze, and changes topic rather abruptly. “Alright, we need to set up our defenses. We don’t have much ranged weaponry, but we’ll have to make do with what we’ve got.” She says as she mounts Stormfly.

 

Danny smiles “alright, you lead the way!”

 

The flight back to the huts doesn’t take too long, but as Danny gazes out toward the cove, he notices something. “Astrid, look!” He shouts, pointing toward where he can see the masts of ships. 

 

Out in the water is a small fleet of dragon hunter ships. They aren’t yet close enough to pose a threat, but they will be soon.

 

“Damnit” Astrid curses as she follows his gaze. 

 

Danny can’t help but agree with the summation. They’re being attacked from both sides. With a defense consisting of a flock of night terrors, three teenagers, and not enough weapons, it’s safe to say they’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. Hopefully the traps will delay the hunters enough that they won’t be hit by both forces at the same time, but with Danny’s luck that’s pretty unlikely.

 

“Alright. Great. We have to guard from both sides.” Danny mutters. “At least our defenses are actually set up to defend from that side.” He can feel the beginning of a plan starting to come together in his mind, but it’s still missing a few pieces. Their main problem right now is that they’re outnumbered, he needs a way to fix that.

 

They land quickly, and Danny spots a few night terrors squawking to one another about the impending attack. 

 

“That’s it!” He says, ignoring Astrid’s confused look. “I’ll be right back!” 

 

He runs over to where the most night terrors are gathered. “Would the wild dragons on the island be willing to help us?” He asks them.

 

“Maybe. This is their home too.” Says one of them. The others nod in agreement.

 

“Great, can you go tell them about the dragon hunters. Direct any of them that want to help to go after the ships out there, dealing with the fleet out there faster means that we’re less likely to be taken by surprise from behind. If there are any Changewings or other dragons that are good at stealth have them attack any small groups of hunters.” He tells hem, laying out his plan.

 

Maybe they aren’t quite as outnumbered as the hunters want them to think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment to tell me what you think. Theories? Complaints? Rants about cheese? I want to hear it all!


	8. Edge Of Disaster Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plans work surprisingly well, plans fall apart, and everyone has questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the radio silence over the weekend, I was at a friends house on Saturday and I spent most of Sunday playing Academagia: The Making Of Mages (literally the best game I have ever and will ever play. I have clocked more than eighty hours total of that game and I still haven’t completed the main storyline) instead of writing. By the time I finished this chapter it was late enough that I decided I should just wait for morning to post.

Astrid isn’t quite close enough to hear what Danny is saying to the night terrors, but she is close enough to see that he’s giving them instructions. Considering that the most complex thing any of them have been able to get the night terrors to do is fetch a stick, she really doubts anything will come of it.

 

She’s surprised when they all take flight and spread out across the island (save for one of them, which settles into Danny’s hair). Danny walks back over to her with a bright smile.

 

“What was all that about?” She asks.

 

He blinks. “haha, uh…” he looks like he’s searching for an answer. “Just and idea I had, it’s not important. What is important is setting up defenses!”

 

Astrid raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t comment. He’s right, defenses are what they should be focusing on right now. She’ll grill him about it later.

 

They spend the next few hours building barricades and blocking off entrances. By the time they’re finished, any dragon hunter trying to get to them will have to deal with a slew of easily defendable barricades. Considering that it’s the result of only a couple hours work, it’s pretty damn good.

 

Once they finish the final touches on the defenses, Astrid sends Danny to track down Tuffnut. Danny is absurdly good at finding people, and he can probably hold his own in a fight, but when twenty minutes pass and both Danny and Tuffnut aren’t anywhere to be seen, Astrid starts to worry. 

 

She really hopes Danny just got lost, but she’s getting the sinking feeling that it won’t be quite that simple.

* * *

 

 

Danny walks through the forest, following behind Scout. He had sent the night terror to go find Tuffnut, and now he’s leading Danny to the trap setting teen. 

 

They reach Tuffnut without much trouble, finding him stringing up tripwires with the help of his chicken.

 

“Hey, Tuffnut! We’ve finished up the Edge’s defenses, are you done trapping the forest?”

 

Tuffnut looks up from the tripwire, a grin on his face. “Yep! Those dragon hunters won’t know what hit ‘em!”

 

Danny nods and says “Great, then let’s head back to the huts.” 

 

They start the trek back through the forest. The greenery is thick enough to obscure their vision, but not so much that they can’t find the way back. It’s pretty peaceful until Danny hears the sound of a bowstring pulling back (thank goodness for super-hearing). 

 

He leaps behind a tree, pulling a very confused Tuffnut after him.

 

An arrow thuds into the place where his head was located not even a second ago. He pokes his head around the tree to search for the source. 

 

There- behind that tree! He can spot the outline of an armored body hidden in the foliage. Carefully, Danny draws a throwing knife (he grabbed a set of knives the second he and Astrid got back to the Edge) and draws his arm back. Taking a moment to aim, he launches it toward the figure in the woods. He isn’t expecting it to do much damage, the guy is armored after all, but it will at least serve as a warning.

 

He hears a clang as the knife hits metal and a low curse follows soon after. Instead of coming out, the figure disappears deeper into the woods, probably to set another ambush. 

 

Tuffnut is staring pale faced at the arrow protruding from the tree bark, so Danny tugs him along. They need to get back to the Edge and warn Astrid that the hunters are on the move. If there’s one out here, then there’s bound to be more.

 

They don’t make it very far before the figure from the trees attacks again. This time a net comes flying from somewhere hidden in the foliage. Danny doesn’t have enough warning to dodge, and both him and Tuffnut end up tangled up in it. This is far from the first time Danny has gotten stuck in a net, and it’s just as uncomfortable as always. Tuffnut’s wriggling really isn’t helping either.

 

It’s then that their mysterious assailant makes himself known. The hulking armored figure steps out of the underbrush, casting an ominous shadow over the two teens. 

 

On the man’s head is a massive dragon skull helmet, and strapped to his back is what looks like every weapon known to man. That’s probably an exaggeration, the guy doesn’t have any siege weapons, but it isn’t that far from the truth. There are swords, daggers, crossbows, some sort of grappling hook, and at least one tambourine (they can do a surprising amount of damage in the hands of a suitably irate musician).

 

“I have you now, ghost child!” Booms a familiar voice.

 

Danny stares in blankly at the towering figure for a moment, then says “Skulker? What the hell are you doing here?”

 

While the two of them are having this oh-so-riveting conversation, Tuffnut is sawing away at the ropes with one of Danny’s throwing knives. He may not be the smartest guy, but he does have some modicum of self preservation.

 

“I’m hunting you, was that not obvious?” Skulker says.

 

“But how did you find me?!” Danny asks in exasperation.

 

“Well-“ The hunter starts, but he doesn’t get the chance to finish, because Tuffnut finishes cutting his way out of the net and runs off into the forest at an astounding speed, Danny following right behind. 

 

“Hey! Get back here!” Skulker shouts after their retreating backs, giving chase. 

 

Unfortunately for him, Tuffnut is very adept at running away, and their winding chase through the woods ends with Skulker caught in one of Tuffnut’s booby traps. It turns out that people really can fall for pit traps covered in leaves. Who knew?

 

The two teens dash off toward the Edge, leaving Skulker in a deep hole full of probably-not-very-dangerous snakes.

 

“I have  _ so  _ many questions! What the helheim was that all about?!” Tuffnut asks as they run. 

 

“Can you maybe save the questions for when we aren’t under siege?” Danny suggests, ducking under a branch. They eventually make it back to the Edge, but it takes a lot longer than it should because of all the detours to avoid hunters.

 

Once they reach the Edge, Danny gets to see the results of his plan. Things are going even better than he hoped, and a proud grin makes its way across his face. Hopefully this streak of luck continues.

 

A couple ships have already sunk under the onslaught of wild dragons. A pack of gronckles are melting the hunters’ large weapons, while monstrous nightmares are giving them cover fire. Nadders are sharpshooting, their spines hitting flesh and wood alike, the screams of dragon hunters proving the dragons’ excellent aim. 

 

Near the edges of the fighting, Zipplebacks swoop in for the final blow, filling ships with gas and applying a spark.

 

Astrid is helping out from the ballista on her roof, shooting at any ships the dragons are having trouble dealing with. everything is working like a well oiled machine. The night terrors can be seen flying above and directing the chaos. They’re surprisingly devious little dragons when the situation calls for it.

 

Scout flies off to join his pack, while Danny and Tuffnut run over to Astrid.

 

“Where were you guys?!” She shouts down at them.

 

“We ran into an ambush. I’m pretty sure the hunters on the far side of the island are about to launch their attack,” Danny answers, shouting to be heard over the chaos. “How are things going over here?”

 

“Thinks are going surprisingly well. A bunch of wild dragons swooped in to help out,” Astrid says, pointing to where the dragon hunter fleet is quickly depleting. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with your ‘idea’ from earlier, would it?”

 

Danny nods awkwardly. “Look, I’ll tell you after we deal with the invasion. Right now we've got other stuff to focus on.”

 

Astrid nods, fires off one more shot from the ballista, and leaps down. “I’ll scout around on Stormfly, you two head over to the barricades.” She instructs.

 

Danny and Tuffnut nod, and head in that direction.

 

“So, what kind of traps did you set up?” Danny asks Tuffnut as they climb up their side of the main barricade. Stored on it is a bunch of monstrous nightmare gel and rocks to drop on enemies.

 

“All kinds of stuff! You already saw the snake pits, and there’s a few net traps too, but that’s nothing compared to the zippleback gas filled scareships I set up!” Tuffnut says animatedly. 

 

“Er, scareships?”

 

“Yeah, like scarecrows, but for ships” he says as though this ought to be obvious.

 

Before Danny has the chance to point out some of the obvious flaws to such a thing, (humans, unlike crows, having abstract thinking skills, for one) a dragon hunter horn sounds from nearby, echoing through the woods. 

 

It is highly likely that the dumbass who decided to announce the hunters’ sneak attack gets an axe through the head, which would probably explain why the sound cuts off so abruptly.

 

“Get ready” Danny says, coating a stone in monstrous nightmare gel.

 

Tuffnut does the same, but he doesn’t stop chattering about the traps as he does so. He only shuts up when Stormfly almost lands on top of him.

 

Astrid hops off the nadder, looking worried. “There are a lot more men out there than I thought. It looks like Ryker and Dagur are staying well back from the fighting for now, they probably want to wear us out fighting their goons, then crush us when we’re tired,” She summarizes. “Apparently dragons have been cutting down their numbers a bit, but it isn’t enough to make a big difference in the long run. He’s using a lot of resources on this, there’s a whole fleet docked around the back of the island.”

 

“Damn, I was banking on a smaller force. At least the dragon attacks should lower their morale a bit, but I’m not sure it’ll be enough” Danny says. Of course the plan working perfectly was too much to hope for. His luck isn’t  _ that _ good. “I guess we’ll just have to hold out until backup comes.  _ If  _ backup comes.”

 

* * *

 

When the first wave of hunters comes, the defenders are well prepared. Stones covered in monstrous nightmare gel make excellent projectiles, as well as making the terrain more difficult for the hunters to cross. Hunters that come too close are quickly taken down with a throwing knife to the chest, courtesy of Danny. 

 

Of course, they can’t hold out forever. It’s the fifth wave of attackers now, and they’re worryingly low on ammunition. Danny is out of knives, and the monstrous nightmare gel is running low. They’re pretty much down to using ordinary stones. Realistically speaking, they’re going to have to retreat, but allowing hunters to take the edge is not an option.

 

Stormfly is helping as much as she can, but she can’t be everywhere. The night terrors had lost their cohesion once Smidvarg was shot down, and now they’re flapping desperately around the battlefield trying to get organized.

 

A lot of the wild dragons have flown off, not wanting to deal with such a threatening enemy, and the ones that remain are just as worn out as the human defenders. Things are definitely looking bleak for them.

 

“C’mon, we just need to hold out a little longer” Danny mutters to himself, kicking a hunter down from the barricade. Two more rise to take their place, and even more are climbing up. As exhausted as Danny is, he’s not sure how much longer he’ll be able to last.

 

Miraculously, just as everything seems lost, the other riders return. A plasma blast soars across the battlefield, announcing their arrival and rallying the tired defenders. Following behind the three riders is a flock of wild dragons prepared to rain down hell on the hunters below. 

 

The tides have turned in the dragon riders’ favor, and many hunters realizing that, take to their heels. The fight doesn’t last very long after their arrival.

 

Ruffnut shows up around halfway through, soaring in atop barf and belch (but clearly having problems trying to control the dragon on her own). Tuffnut runs off to join her, and the sheer amount of havoc they wreak is enough to make any demolition team proud.

 

Soon enough, the hunters have been completely removed from the island. 

 

Now it’s time for them to explain exactly what the other riders missed. As it turns out Hiccup, Snotlout, and Fishlegs have a bit to fill them in on as well. 

 

Apparently Johann wasn’t being attacked by  _ dragon hunters _ , he was being attacked by  _ dragons.  _ Danny has literally no idea how anyone could confuse the two, but the guy had somehow managed it. 

 

As it turns out, those dragons had absolutely hated humans. Through some convoluted course of action that Snotlout doesn’t explain very well, Hiccup proved to them that he wasn’t a threat. Something about wings? Danny really isn’t sure.

 

Next it’s Astrid, Danny, and Tuffnut’s turn to explain things. Unfortunately for Danny, neither Tuffnut nor Astrid have forgotten their questions for him. 

 

Astrid tells the others about how Danny had come running up to tell her about the night terrors acting freaked out, and how they found out Ruffnut was captured. Tuffnut speaks up with the occasional addition or witty remark as she explains what happened.

 

Tuffnut steps up to talk about the ambush in the forest, and how the ‘big armor guy’ knew Danny somehow.

 

By the end of the explanations  _ everyone  _ has questions for Danny. 

 

_ ‘Well shit.’ _ Is probably his most coherent thought. The rest of his mind is either screaming unintelligibly or demanding sleep. Sleep sounds really great right about now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the kinda anticlimactic Skulker fight. It wasn’t flowing right, and most of the beginning of this chapter was written with too little sleep. Action scenes are not my forte, especially not big action scenes.


	9. Moonlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Questions are answered, conversations are had, and emotions are felt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really love how this chapter turned out, I don’t often write emotional pieces, but it kind of fit here. 
> 
> I feel like not enough was done with the pack of injured dragons from “Edge Of Disaster” in cannon, so I decided to give them some development. When watching the episode I became weirdly attached to the leader and the green monstrous nightmare that acted like either her mate or leuitenant.

The ensuing torrent of questions  is incomprehensible. Everyone is talking all at once, and at least one of them is completely off topic asking about pie. Whether that one genuinely cares about the subject or is just trying to derail the conversation is anyone’s guess.

 

“Can you maybe ask one at a time? Please?” Danny asks, wincing at the ruckus. 

 

Tuffnut jumps up and stands on his seat. “Oh, me first!” He says loudly, waving his hand around over his head like an impatient kindergartener. “Why did the armor guy call you ‘ghost child’? You don’t look very ghostly to me.”

 

Danny considers his answer. He obviously isn’t going to tell them everything, but it would be a good idea to stick to at least technical truths, it makes it easier to keep track of what he’s saying. 

 

“Back home a lot of people called me Phantom, it’s nickname of sorts,” he explain. All technically true, he’s just omitting a few details. 

 

Ruffnut shoves her twin off the chair and gets up on it herself. “What’s your favorite flavor of pie?!” 

 

“Uh…”

 

“Hey that’s my chair!” Tuffnut tackles Ruffnut and they end up in a tug-of-war over the chair. Hiccup looks like he’s on the verge of facepalming.

 

“Does, uh, anyone else want me to answer that or…?” Danny trails off questioningly. 

 

“I think we can safely ignore any questions coming from Ruffnut” Astrid says, rolling her eyes at the twins’ antics. “My question is, how did you get the night terrors to listen to you? All we’ve gotten them to do is follow a few basic commands, but it’s like they understood every word you said. That leads into the next question, I suppose; was your ‘idea’ the reason all the island’s dragons showed up to help us or was that completely unrelated?”

 

Ah. Well, he knew this one was coming. He’s come up with a dozen different answers, but all of them leave a few holes in his explanation. The easiest one is probably to admit he can understand dragons. It has the added bonus of explaining why Ryker captured him, even if it isn’t the actual reason. He can’t be blamed for the riders jumping to conclusions, so it isn’t like he’s actually  _ lying _ to them.

 

“Uh, about that, I can kinda… talk to dragons. And like, understand them. I don’t really have any way to prove it but…” he trails off awkwardly. “I’ve had the night terrors out scouting for trouble, it’s how I found out about the hunter attack so fast. I asked them if they could convince some of the island’s wild dragons to help us out, it’s their island too, it would make sense if they wanted to protect it. I had dragons that can camouflage take out any small groups of hunters, and the rest help sink ships” Danny explains, shrinking under everyone’s stares.

 

The silence that follows his statement goes on for far too long. Unsurprisingly, Tuffnut is the one to break the awkward silence.

 

“Well that was unexpected.” He says. The other riders nod, finally seeming to actually comprehend the knowledge.

 

Danny is immensely relieved when a loud yawn gives him an exit from the conversation. “Oh, hah, look at the time. I’m just gonna go back to my hut and sleep, it sure has been a long day, huh.” With that he bolts out of the clubhouse.

 

“Well that could have gone better” Danny mutters to himself once he’s out of the others’ hearing range. He heads back to his hut just like he said he would, collapsing on the mattress. 

 

For once he finds it hard to sleep. Normally he’s able to fall asleep anywhere and anytime, but tonight? It just ain’t coming. 

 

His earlier tiredness has been banished by nervous energy, and now he just needs to move. Back in Amity Park he always flies around town when he’s feeling restless, it’s relaxing to stare up at the stars, imagining that he’s up there too, soaring through the emptiness of space. Ghost hunting had pretty much thrown out any chance of achieving his dream of becoming an astronaut, so this is probably as close as he’ll ever get. 

 

He actually is intelligent, but being a half ghost superhero has definitely taken its toll on his grades. Now most of his knowledge is about battle tactics and how not to get himself killed. 

 

Not being allowed to use lab equipment was definitely cutting into his science grade, too. He learns better by doing, just like his parents. Jazz is the only one in the family that’s any good at learning from books. 

 

Okay- thinking about home really isn’t helping. He groans rolling over, and trying to find a more comfortable position. In fact, he rolls right off the mattress landing on the floor with a gentle thump. 

 

He just lays there for a few minutes. He’s in that paradoxical state of exhaustion where any movement feels like too much work, but trying to sleep makes him feel like he has too much energy. 

 

Danny pushes himself up on his elbows. Making the decision that a flight in his dragon form ought to tire him out enough to sleep, he walks out into the forest to transform.

 

His dragon form feels freeing after so long spent as a human. The ice of his core flows through his veins, relieving the already healing bruises from the day’s siege. A powerful flap of his wings sends him spiraling into the sky, and as he soars far above the treeline, he truly feels at peace. The sounds of the forest below are muted, giving the world a surreal sense of stillness and tranquility. 

 

Flight will always be his favorite power, it’s wonderful to be so close to the sky.

 

He tries a few experimental swoops and dives, letting out a roar of joy as the wind catches his wings. He’s so caught up in the wonder of flying that he hardly notices when another dragon joins him. Together, completely in sync, the two of them race out over the water, through clouds, and between trees. Circling the peak of the mountain, he finally starts to feel exhaustion tug at his wings. He lands in the freezing snow, hardly feeling the cold. It’s then that he really has a chance to take in his partner in flight. 

 

It’s one of the dragons Hiccup had brought as backup, from a pack that apparently doesn’t like people very much. She’s (how Danny knows she’s a she, he really isn’t sure) a deadly nadder, her blue coloring accented with magenta markings. Scars run along her jaw, and she carries an air of strength about her. Not in the sense of fighting or physical power (though she could certainly take him in a fight), but an inner, more personal, strength. 

 

She’s reminds Danny of an old war veteran, someone who has survived horrors you will likely never face. Someone who came out with their life intact and the memory of far too many fallen friends. 

 

“You’re a good flier for one your age,” She says, with the hint of a smile. “It’s rare to find someone else enjoying a night flight just for the sake of it. Most who fly at night do so to hunt prey or remain hidden.”

 

Danny returns the smile with a bright grin of his own. “Flying at night is how I calm myself down. It feels wonderful to be so close the the stars, and in the dark it’s easy to let myself go. When it’s light out everyone can see your face, and sometimes the weight that comes along with that gets to be too much.” He says.

 

The nadder nods understandingly. “Wise words indeed. Under the daylight we must all appear stronger than we truly are. I have to be the rock for my pack, keeping them safe and healthy. I don’t often get time to simply be myself, rather than the facade of leadership I wear around them.”

 

“You lead your pack?” Danny asks, tilting his head questioningly.

 

“Yes. I brought them together, I rescued them from the humans’ traps and gave them a home. I have a duty to them, even more than many other leaders. They need me to be a symbol. Someone to help them through the nightmares, or defend them from enemies seeking revenge. Someone they can rely on,” She explains. “Many of them have experienced the worst the world can offer, the best I can do is give them a safe place to recover.”

 

“So you give them a feeling of stability. That makes sense, it’s like how I act when getting people away from a crisis. Act like nothing can go wrong, even when panicking, because it will keep them calm enough that we have a chance to get out alive.” He says, understanding dawning. 

 

“You seem to have a lot on your shoulders for a dragonling,” She observes. “If you’d like, you can tell me what’s troubling you. I know as well as anyone that sometimes you just need someone who’s willing to listen.”

 

Danny smiles in thanks. “It’s just… I get really anxious about sharing a secret I have,” He admits. “Here it isn’t even that big of a deal, but back home sharing it could get me killed. That fear has kept me alive, but here it’s causing more problems than it solves. Even sharing a small part of that secret is terrifying to me.”

 

The pack leader nods her head. “It is hard to let go of things like that. My lieutenant spent his first few years in the pack afraid of the sound of hammers, it was how the humans commanded him. It took him a long time to work through it. Many in the pack have similar stories, my recommendation is to think more on it from a different point of view. Try observing why you react the way you do, it doesn’t work for everyone, but it sounds like it could solve your problem.”

 

Danny nods thoughtfully. Looking at things from a different perspective, huh? 

 

The first rays of sunlight break the horizon, highlighting the clouds in stunning colors. “I must return to my pack,” she tells Danny. “If you ever wish to talk again, just ask for Aisha.”

 

“Thank you for listening to me, Aisha.” He says. “My name is Danny.”

 

With that, the two of them part ways, both left with something to think about. Danny soars back to the forest near his hut, transforming back to a human. It’s a little late (early?) to be going to sleep, but he doubts anyone will be upset if he sleeps in a little.

 

He thinks a little on Aisha’s advice before he succumbs to sleep. Maybe she’s right, he needs to think about things differently. What had initially made him keep his powers secret? Why had he made that decision, even before his parents started talking about ripping Phantom apart “molecule by molecule”?

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me what you think!


	10. Back In Amity Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Self reflection, Technus with a mech, and angst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re back in Amity again! Taking a look inside Sam’s head, figuring out what’s up with her.

Sam would be lying if she said they were making progress in the search. The problem is, none of their very few leads are actually precise enough to follow up on. They get occasional snippets of information from the friendlier ghosts, but it isn’t enough.

 

She knows she shouldn’t have acted like such a jerk to Valerie, but the other girl just gets on her nerves. Danny being missing is making everything worse, he’s at least half of her impulse control, without him she’s been lashing out at others even more than normal. It isn’t like she can even pin down why she hates Valerie so much. Sure, there’s the whole ‘Red Huntress’ thing, but that really shouldn’t still be bothering her.

 

Ugh, this train of thought isn’t getting her anywhere. 

 

Sam gets up from the park bench she had been sitting on. Without Danny’s ghost sense, they’ve had to patrol a lot more than usual, and she had sat down a while to rest her aching feet. Walking all over town really isn’t fun, and she’s been patrolling for at least an hour. She kind of wants a ghost to show up, if only to ease the monotony.

 

As if on cue, a blast resounds from down the street. Standing in the remains of an electronics store is Technus riding in some sort of mech. He’s going on one of his usual evil monologues. Something or other about liberating technology, Sam isn’t really listening. She texts the rest of Team Phantom to tell them she’s on the case, and pulls out her fenton thermos. 

 

“Who the hell gave you a mech?” She shouts at Technus, grabbing his attention.

 

“Haha! With Skulker gone, I can raid his junk pile and become all powerful! Gaze upon my divine radical-ness! If I could just figure out this control scheme…” he messes with the buttons, probably looking for some sort of laser blast. All he manages to do is cause a massive waffle maker pop out of the side. “No! This is supposed to be a weapon, not a kitchen!” Technus shouts. He continues randomly mashing buttons. He hits the self destruct button without even noticing, and Sam facepalms as it loudly counts down.

 

The mech explodes spectacularly, spraying syrup everywhere. Why Skulker needed a giant breakfast robot, nobody knows, but he probably won’t be too happy to find it destroyed.

 

Sam hits the button on the side of the thermos, sucking Technus in, then she slams the cap down.

 

She sends out a quick text to the rest of the group, telling them that she’s captured Technus, and heads over to Fentonworks to deposit the technology obsessed ghost.

 

She’s halfway there when she realizes the importance of one of the sentences Technus had shouted. “Wait, Skulker’s missing?” She says, stopping. Maybe it’s connected!

 

Is she jumping to conclusions? Yes. Does she give a shit? No.

 

Sam, on impulse, opens up the thermos, releasing a very frazzled looking Technus. 

 

“You said Skulker was gone, right?” She demands.

 

“Huh? Didn’t you know?” Technus says in confusion. “Yeah, nobody’s seen him in a while, so I get all his rad weapons!”

 

“So nobody’s seen him?” Sam asks, deflating a bit.

 

“Well, Pandora mentioned seeing him with some sort of tracker the day he disappeared…” 

 

Sam brightens up “Great! A lead!” She sucks Technus back into the thermos, ignoring his protests. She runs the rest of the way to Fentonworks. Jazz had convinced her parents to go on a road trip, so for now Team Phantom gets free reign of the house. Sam pulls out the key Jazz had given her and unlocks the door. She dashes down the steps to the basement, drops the thermos off on a counter, and hops into the specter speeder.

 

Okay, this is a terrible idea.

 

She revs up the engine, and heads through the portal. The Ghost Zone’s green light is bright compared to the dark basement, and she has to rub at her eyes a bit while they adjust. Sam pulls up their homemade map, and sets the coordinates for Pandora’s lair into the specter speeder.

 

The journey doesn’t feel all that long, but a glance at her phone proves that it’s been about thirty minutes since she left. The Greek style architecture is beautiful, but she isn’t here to sightsee. 

 

Sam steps out of the speeder and shouts “Pandora!”

 

The four armed ghost shows up surprisingly quickly. “Yes, you needed me for something?”

 

“Technus says you’re the last person to have seen Skulker, can you give me any details?” Sam asks. 

 

“I saw him heading that way,” she points north, “looking at some device. I don’t know what it was, technology like that came long after my time, but I suspect it may have contained the location of something he was hunting.”

 

“And that’s all you can tell me?”

 

“I’m afraid so,” Pandora says apologetically. “Apologies for not having more useful information.”

 

“It’s fine I guess…” Sam kicks at the ground. She had hoped- well, she isn’t sure what she hoped. She doesn’t even know why she thought both disappearances were related, Skulker is probably just off hunting some ghost or other. “I just thought that maybe it could lead me to Danny, he’s been missing for a while,” she says.

 

“Phantom is missing? I was not aware. Have you asked Frostbite? He may know where Phantom has gone.”

 

Sam brightens up. “No, we haven’t! How didn’t we think of that!” She rushes back to the speeder, pausing for only a second to call a “thanks!” over her shoulder, before plunging into the cockpit. She hurriedly types out the Far Frozen’s coordinates. The screen flashes with an affirmative, and she’s off!

 

The Far Frozen is fairly close to Pandora’s lair, and it doesn’t take Sam very long to arrive. A couple of yetis greet her as she hops out of the specter speeder, slamming the door behind her. 

 

“Can you take me to see Frostbite?” She asks the nearest one. 

 

The yeti nods, gesturing for her to follow them. They lead her through the icy village, the cold air making her breath hang in the air. There are a couple other yetis out and about, and they give her mildly curious stares as she walks through town.

 

“This way” the yeti says, directing her toward the largest building. Inside, Frostbite is arguing with a vaguely important looking man sized ferret. 

 

“No, we are not going to buy your cheese exports at those prices- Ah hello!” Frostbite turns to Sam as she enters. “Friend of the Great One, what brings you to the Far Frozen?”

 

The ferret, seemingly fed up with the meeting, growls and stomps out the doors.

 

“Danny is missing, Pandora said you might know how to find him,” Sam explains.

 

“The Great One is missing? That is grave new indeed. We will spread word to our allies to aid your search. I would offer you the infinimap, but it is currently in lord Clockwork’s possession.”

 

“The help would be appreciated… Wait-  _ lord  _ Clockwork?”

 

Frostbite nods. “Indeed, to many ghosts he is but a myth, his very existence changes the flow of this world. He is one of the most powerful ghosts in the Zone, the only thing keeping him from being  _ the  _ most powerful is that he must obey the observants and their council,” he explains. “Many ghosts go their entire existence without meeting him. To be allowed an audience is a great and very rare honor.”

 

“Really?” Sam says in surprise. During the whole Dark Danny fiasco she had assumed he was just like any other ghost, albeit with a slightly more fancy powerset, and now she’s finding out that he’s seen as some sort of godlike entity by most of the Ghost Zone. 

 

She dreads to think what could have happened had he truly fought them. Getting on the bad side of someone that powerful seems like a very bad idea. Danny had barely survived going up against Pariah Dark, and from the sounds of it Clockwork is even stronger.

 

Sam can’t even go and ask him for the infinimap, she doesn’t have the coordinates for his lair, and even if she did she gets the feeling she wouldn’t find it there. It seems like a bit of a stretch to call it coincidence that just as Danny goes missing, Clockwork borrows the easiest way of finding him.

 

“Well, thank you anyways, any help you can give would be appreciated” Sam says. 

 

“Don’t worry, if The Great One is anywhere in the Ghost Zone we will find him.”

 

Wait- hold on. What if he  _ isn’t  _ in the ghost zone? That would explain their lack of progress finding him!

 

The spark of excitement fizzles out when she realizes that this doesn’t bring them any closer. It just means that he could be  _ anywhere,  _ and it’s not like they can search the entire world.

 

She nods a farewell to Frostbite, now preoccupied with this train of thought. 

 

What if Danny is lost in time? Or maybe the Guys in White got him! Ugh- this is just stressing her out. She needs to tell Jazz her thoughts, she’s always been better at this sort of stuff. It’s just… Sam wants to feel  _ useful,  _ like she’s doing something other than sitting around twiddling her thumbs.

 

Maybe that’s why she dislikes Valerie so much, the other girl is able to actually  _ do  _ so much more. She’s got her suit, she knows enough about ghost tech to help Tucker, and she can go up against the ghosts that Sam can’t. Sam always feels like she’s either causing the problem or holding Danny back. She knows he doesn’t think about it like that, but she also knows that he always has to focus on keeping her out of harm's way during fights.

 

She doesn’t bring anything unique to the team. Jazz has her psychology and intelligence, Tucker knows everything about technology, but Sam? Nothing.

 

She gets into the specter speeder feeling dejected. 

 

It probably sounds stupid, but what she really wants is to feel like she’s needed. As a child she had just been ‘the Manson girl’ or ‘the rich kid’. She was defined by something she had never earned, not by her personal strengths or hobbies. She had tried everything; horseback riding, drawing, sports. No matter what she did, nobody took notice.

 

She had decided to change middle schools in seventh grade and forge a new identity. She had fallen into the goth role pretty quickly, albeit completely by accident. She finally had a place, and it wasn’t defined by her parents or her money. But now… we’ll, she feels like she’s back in elementary school, not contributing, and the contributions she does make aren’t big enough for anyone to sit up and take notice.

 

She groans, hitting her head against the seat of the speeder. She needs to be focused on saving Danny. It doesn’t matter if she makes a unique contribution, he just needs to be  _ safe.  _

 

The thought doesn’t help her anxieties, but it does get her back on track. For now, maybe that’s enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That last bit pretty much wrote itself. I really don’t know where it came from.


	11. Interviews

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Interviewing dragons, Clockwork is cryptic, and this is a filler chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for this chapter. It’s late, short, and definitely not my best work. I’m going to take Friday and the weekend to build up some buffer chapters and really figure out what plotpoints I need to hit. You can expect the next update on Monday.

Danny wakes up far later than usual (a reasonable side effect of staying up all night) and heads to the clubhouse to get some breakfast/lunch. Brunch? 

 

Fishlegs and the twins are the only ones there, Hiccup and Astrid are off patrolling, and Snotlout is probably still asleep in his hut. The twins are in the midst of a heated debate on the benefits of boar grease. 

 

Fishlegs is eating breakfast with his nose in a book, but he looks up with a smile when he hears Danny come in.

 

“Danny!” He says. “So, you know how there’s not very much documentation of wild dragon behavior?” Fishlegs continues speaking, obviously assuming that Danny does indeed know. “Well with your ability to speak to dragons we could fill a whole book on dragon psychology! It’s such an underexplored subject, and this way we can get direct quotes and information!”

 

“Uh… sure?” Danny says awkwardly as he gets some food from the storage cupboard. He isn’t sure what he was expecting, but he supposes that it makes sense considering what he knows about Fishlegs. The guy is seriously obsessed with dragons.

 

He sits down at the table taking up most of the room and starts eating his breakfast. “I’m gonna finish my food before running off to interview any dragons though, breakfast is the most important meal of the day and all that.”

 

The twins finally seem to notice Danny, and their debate morphs into the two of them guessing what Barf and Belch are always laughing about. Danny really doesn’t know what to make of that conversation, so he ignores it. Anyways, Barf and Belch are generally laughing at the twins’ and their shenanigans, he doesn’t have to be able to talk to dragons to see that.

 

Fishlegs nods, but he still looks like he may explode from excitement, and words are coming out his mouth at a mile per minute. Everything from wondering how thunderdrums communicate despite their poor hearing to regaling Danny with the tale of the boneknapper dragon. Danny manages to tune this out too, focusing completely on his food. 

 

“...So what do you think?” 

 

Danny realizes with a start that the question is directed at him. “Uh, what?”

 

“I asked your opinion on seashockers. Hiccup said he saw you hanging out with them after you first arrived.”

 

“Oh, that.” Danny says. “They’re really interesting to talk to. The seashockers pod I met has been all over the sea! They were telling me about their adventures, so in return I started telling them about some of mine. It turns out that storytelling is really important to their culture, it’s how they pass on their history.”

 

“See! We’re already learning things!” Fishlegs seems to pull a notebook from thin air and starts excitedly making notes. “This is so great! Just think of all the new things we can learn about dragon culture!”

 

“Er, yeah, I guess.” Danny says. Fishlegs kind of reminds him of Jazz right now. Some of her first questions about him being half ghost were related to ghostly psychology. Fishlegs has that same enthusiasm, that yearning for all the knowledge the world can give. 

 

Danny has never really been the sort to seek knowledge just for knowledge’s sake. He learns things that he knows will be useful, it’s like his knowledge of weapons and tactics, he hadn’t just one day decided on a whim that he wanted to learn everything about warfare, he had learned about it because he knew that without that knowledge he could be killed.

 

Back when school was his first priority, Danny used to rationalize the lesson’s uses in a real world environment. Figuring out why he needs to learn the subject helps him stay on task and gives him a deeper understanding of what’s being taught.

 

* * *

 

In retrospect, it may not have been a good idea to try and interview a whispering death. Turns out that they are  _ seriously  _ territorial, and the moment Danny stepped onto the island they started chattering about how he needs to get out of their space. Apparently they can sense the electric field Danny gives off, and they really, really hate it.

 

Currently him and Fishlegs are flying as fast as is physically possible away from the whispering death island.

 

“Well that was… certainly something.” Danny deadpans.

 

“I told you they get kind of territorial. Though I’m not sure how they found us so fast.”

 

Meatlug rolls her eyes. She is surprisingly sassy, especially compared to her bookish rider. 

 

“Yeah, maybe the next dragon we interview could be something a bit more docile? Not that I don’t appreciate almost being eaten, but…”

 

“Well, good thing the next dragon on our list is a terrible terror!” Fishlegs says, far too cheerfully for someone who’s academic pursuits almost got them killed.

 

As it turns out, terrible terrors don’t really like Danny. While night terrors prefer cold temperatures, terrible terrors try to suck in all the warmth they can get. To them Danny is like a walking (slightly zappy) ice cube.

 

“What can you tell us about your culture?” Danny asks them.

 

In response, the leader steps up and growls “go away! Ice dragons aren’t welcome here!”

 

“Uh, apparently they don’t like ice dragons.” Danny translates for Fishlegs (albeit leaving out some small details).

 

“That makes sense, terrible terrors are cold blooded, they keep warm using their fire. The archipelago is the farthest north that they’re willing to go.” Fishlegs says. “Wait, why would they bring that up?”

 

“Haha, no idea” Danny says awkwardly. Luckily for him, Fishlegs is far too focused on writing to properly question that statement.

 

So far their interviews have provided some good information for the Book of Dragons, at least according to Fishlegs. Danny has no idea what is or isn’t common knowledge, so he just goes along with it. So far they’ve talked to changewings, monstrous nightmares, zipplebacks (it’s really confusing to talk to something with two heads, which one are you supposed to look at?), and even a thunderdrum. Danny’s ears are still ringing from that particular encounter. 

 

Before they can continue the terrible terror interview (or Danny can get mauled by a terrible terror), the bell that signals that someone is calling a meeting rings.

 

Fishlegs looks disappointed that the interview is being cut short, but the two of them head to the clubhouse to see what’s up. 

 

As it turns out, Tuffnut was the one to call a meeting, and it’s to tell everyone about a cool rock he found. Fishlegs looks like he’s going to strangle the idiot, as does Snotlout (who was probably woken up by the commotion).

 

Danny rolls his eyes at the teen’s antics. He can’t see why the stone has caught the teen’s attention, it’s fairly ordinary. It isn’t until Tuffnut flips it over that Danny sees the significance.

 

On one side of the Stone is a message, signed with Clockwork’s cogwheel insignia. 

 

“Goddamnit Clockwork” Danny mutters under his breath. The guy is always trying to be cryptic and mysterious, but this time kind of takes the cake. It reads  _ ‘I’m sending you some assistance, they should arrive soon. You’ll need all the help you can get, soon enough’.  _

 

Apparently the others can’t read modern English, which is a bit of a relief. He’s seen some of their writing, and while he can translate it if he’s really focusing (for some reason all ghosts are able to comprehend languages, it’s weird, but it’s the only reason Danny is passing Spanish class) it definitely isn’t English. 

 

They’re arguing about whether the “scribbles” on the rock mean anything. Tuffnut is actually correct in his assumption that it’s a message, not that Danny is going to tell him so. 

 

Ruffnut seems just as unimpressed as the other two, and she promptly whacks her twin in the head. “Nobody cares about your weird scribble rock!”

 

Danny doesn’t really listen to the rest of the conversation, but apparently it ends with a rant from Fishlegs. Danny is more focused on figuring out Clockwork’s message. Who (or what) is Clockwork sending in as “assistance”? He literally couldn’t have been more vague.

 

Maybe Clockwork is going to send one of his ghostly allies? That would make the most sense. And what did he mean by “you’ll need all the help you can get, soon enough”, that is way too ominous to be brushed off.

 

Danny spends the rest of the day pondering the note. He’s good enough at multitasking not to trip and fall on his face, but not enough to hold proper conversation, as is shown by his tendency to stare off into space for awkward amounts of time.

 

By the time night falls he still hasn’t figured anything else out about the annoyingly vague message. He should probably drop it, if the note is true then the assistance should be showing up soon, but that would be like admitting defeat. He wants to figure it out, and he’s stubborn enough that he’ll probably spend the entire night thinking about it.

 

That is, in fact, what he does. Sure, he can operate on less sleep than most people, but two nights in a row of almost no sleep would take its toll on anyone. The next day is spent in a bleary half asleep daze, and he really wishes that this universe had coffee. 

 

Danny falls asleep around noon under the clubhouse table. It isn’t the strangest place he's fallen asleep, believe it or not. He has the amazing ability of not getting sore from sleeping in weird places, and can comfortably sleep just about anywhere.

 

He wakes up to find that the twins have doodled all over his face. Damnit.

 

The ‘assistance’ mentioned in the message still hasn’t arrived, and Danny is feeling mildly impatient. He’s narrowed down a list of ghosts Clockwork might send, and now he wants to know if he’s right.

 

All in all, it’s a pretty uneventful day. It almost feels like a poorly written filler chapter in a book. Weird.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who or what do you think Clockwork is sending to help Danny? Comment your theories!


	12. Some More Introspection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Help arrives, boxes are stacked, and introspection happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have returned! I didn’t actually get very many buffer chapters written, but my enthusiasm to write has been reignited and I have a more solid plan for the plot!

Danny is really getting tired of being left behind on the Edge while the others are off on missions. It’s not like he doesn’t get  _ why _ , he’s a kid, at least in comparison to them, and they don’t want him in harm's way. It’s still frustrating. Danny can hold his own in a fight, they’ve  _ seen _ that he can hold his own in a fight, but they still act like he needs protecting.

 

It’s an unfamiliar assumption. Sure when he’s back in Amity people don’t want him doing stupid stuff, but no one other than Jazz has ever tried to “protect” him. As a kid he’d pretty much had free reign as soon as he learned to walk, his parents spent all their time in the lab obsessing over some ghost related project or other, so he didn’t see them very often. They’ve been trying to be better, but Danny still has a lot more freedom than most kids his age.

 

Strangely enough no one in Amity Park ever seemed to question Phantom’s age, or even wonder if it was right for the ghost of a child to fight off the attacking ghosts. He had gotten used to being seen as a protector, even he hadn’t thought to ask himself why he’s always putting himself in danger. It’s partially his ghostly obsession, the need to protect, but why is that his obsession? Before the accident he’d been a fairly average kid. Sure he would sometimes go out of his way for other people, but so has everyone. His death (half-death? Danny is pretty sure he  _ had  _ died in the accident, it’s just the portal’s interference that’s keeping him somewhere between life and death) wasn’t particularly heroic either, so why?

 

Oh well, he isn’t likely to find an answer to that any time soon, and now he’s back to having nothing to do but wait.

 

Currently the riders are off raiding a dragon hunter base, and Danny is once again left twiddling his thumbs as he waits for them to get back. He isn’t used to going so long without any action. Back in his own dimension there’s always some ghost or other he needs to put back in the Ghost Zone, but here? Nothing. Well, apart from Skulker, but it’s not like Danny can hunt him down and deal with him at the moment. There isn’t even a portal to throw him through if Danny did manage to catch him.

 

The boredom is starting to get to Danny. He’s read just about every book on the Edge. Twice. He hasn’t had this much free time since before the portal accident, and it’s maddening. He’d always used to complain about his lack of time off from ghost hunting, but at this point he really doesn’t know what to do with himself. Protecting Amity Park from ghost attacks was a 24/7 job, and without that constant source of worry it feels strange. He’s so used to feeling stressed out that he isn’t entirely sure how to deal with such long periods of inactivity.

 

Instead of sitting around doing nothing, Danny decides to take a flight around the island in dragon form. It’s kind of weird to be flying about in broad daylight, he’s gotten used to only being in his dragon form when the others are asleep.

 

The island looks different in the light of day. The colors are more vibrant, and it’s sunny despite the storm clouds gathering on the horizon. The mountains that under cover of darkness look like blobs of shadow are textured and shining in the sunlight.

 

It’s been awhile since the night he met Aisha on that mountain peak, but her pack seems to have taken up permanent residence on the island. They’re located pretty far from the areas frequented by the riders, but he occasionally sees them flying about. 

 

He’s done a lot of thinking lately, and Aisha’s advice is definitely helping him. He doesn’t feel ready to tell the other riders his secret, but he’s starting to come to terms with the possibility. He still hasn’t quite figured out why the thought of sharing his secret freaks him out so much, but he can feel himself getting closer to the answer.

 

He briefly considers going to check up on her, but discards the idea. She’s probably busy right now, she leads a large pack and most of those dragons are diurnal. 

 

Instead, Danny flies up to one of the cliffs and turns back into human form. At this height everything seems so much smaller, and it’s a thrill to feel the breeze whip through his hair. He’s got a pretty good view of the Edge from up here, and he passes the time identifying various landmarks. 

 

The chill that comes with the altitude is comforting, and Danny feels himself getting tired. Well, hopefully he won’t fall off the mountain, that would be kind of a ridiculous death for someone who can fly. 

 

Pretty soon he’s asleep.

 

* * *

Danny wakes up to a very familiar shout of “Beware!”

 

It takes him a moment to place the voice, and another moment to remember where he is and why that voice shouldn’t be here. 

 

“Box Ghost?” He asks incredulously.

 

“Yes, it is I, master of all things cardboard and square!” Monologues the blue terrible terror flapping its wings in front of him.

 

“Please tell me you aren’t the help Clockwork sent” Danny groans. The Box Ghost is definitely the most annoying of his ghostly foes. Surely Clockwork wouldn’t send someone so aggravating.

 

Box Ghost looks confused and says “Clockwork? No, I just followed the ghost dog.”

 

It’s then that Danny notices the second terrible terror. This one is a bright green with red eyes and has been bouncing around barking for the past couple minutes. 

 

“You followed Cujo? How did Cujo even- oh wait, never mind. Clockwork sending him as help makes far more sense.”

 

Cujo lets out a bark in confirmation, wagging his tail and bouncing around Danny’s seated form. Cujo still has his spike covered collar, and attached to it is a note bearing Clockwork’s seal.

 

Danny pulls the note out from the collar and unfolds it. It reads “my apologies for the Box Ghost, but there are no futures where he doesn’t show up -Clockwork”

 

Well, at least the note isn’t cryptic, there’s nowhere to hide a hidden meaning in such a straightforward message. 

 

Danny stands up, returning to his dragon form. The riders should be getting back soon, so he should probably return to the huts. Cujo barks excitedly and hops up onto his back, tail wagging like mad. Box Ghost refuses to shut up about boxes, which is pretty irritating. Cardboard hasn’t even been  _ invented _ yet in this dimension! 

 

They touch down on the landing pad and Danny resumes his human form. Cujo happily jumps down and starts sniffing around the stables. Box Ghost immediately rushes off toward the empty crates lying around and starts messing around with them. Apparently he still has the ability to levitate boxes, because he promptly starts telekinetically stacking them up into a throne looking pile. 

 

“Now all shall recognize my greatness!” Cries the Box Ghost as he sits atop the stack.

 

“Can you maybe… not do that? Telekinesis is definitely not normal in this dimension, and I really want to avoid answering anymore questions.”

 

“Neverrrrrrrr!” He shouts in defiance, at least until Cujo changes form from a sweet little terrible terror to a growling monstrous nightmare. Apparently his power to change size has been translated pretty well into this dimension.

 

The Box Ghost yelps and falls off his stack, sending it crashing to the ground along with him.

 

“Thanks Cujo” Danny says.

 

Cujo barks happily and resumes his terrible terror form. He proceeds to run up and lick the terrified Box Ghost. 

 

It’s honestly kind of funny just how scared the Box Ghost is of Cujo, and Danny can’t help but giggle. He’s not entirely sure what the two of them are here to help with, but it’s nice to have someone from back home who doesn’t want him dead. With more time to think, he’s been dwelling on what must be happening in Amity.

 

Sure, his parents and a few other ghost hunting groups around town can deal with the weaker ghosts, but what if someone like Vortex or Nocturne shows up? Hopefully if that happens Valerie and Team Phantom could deal with it, but that doesn’t ease his thoughts. 

 

_ What if people get hurt?  _

 

He can’t help but worry over his town. A lot of people there may not trust him, but the mere thought of letting innocent people get hurt sends panic running through his veins. It’s made worse by the fact that he doesn’t have any way to check up on Amity Park, no way to tell if everyone is okay. Some ghosts would leap at the chance to destroy Amity as soon as they find out that its ghostly protector is gone, and he’d have no way to know about it.

 

Jazz is probably worried about him, Sam and Tucker too. Oh man, what about his parents? Hopefully Jazz had come up with a good enough excuse for his absence, he doesn’t want his parents freaking out. 

 

Introspection kind of sucks. His thoughts always seems to come back to the fact that his town is missing its main defender and all of the terrible things that could happen as a result. He’s homesick, plain and simple. He can avoid thinking about it when he has something to do, but in moments like these the anxiety takes over. There are so many things that could go wrong without him, and his mind keeps coming up with new ones.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congratulations to all of you who guessed Cujo (and Box Ghost)!


	13. Maces And Talons Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny gets left behind (again), dragon hunters are in for a surprise, and stuff from the show is sort of mentioned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s another chapter based on events of the show (from an episode of the same name as the chapter).

The riders have finally returned from their latest mission and are unsaddling their dragons in the hangar, or at least that’s what they were doing before an argument broke out between Astrid and Hiccup. Danny looks on in confusion as the two riders go back and forth on whether or not to pull out someone named Heather.

 

“Wait, wait, wait- who’s Heather?” Danny asks, feeling like he’s missing something.

 

The two riders look startled, probably having forgotten Danny’s presence, and turn to look at him.

 

“Heather is one of our allies, she's spying on the dragon hunters for us,” explains Hiccup concisely.

 

“And we  _ need  _ to pull her out! She’s in too much danger!” Snaps Astrid. The two of them return to their argument, leaving Danny feeling as though he’s still lacking context.

 

Tuffnut and Snotlout are running around squee-ing about friendship for some reason, and Ruffnut looks reasonably unimpressed. In fact, Fishlegs is the only one who seems to actually be occupied with unsaddling their dragon.

 

The argument ends with Hiccup pointing out that Heather wouldn’t agree to being pulled out, though Astrid definitely doesn’t agree judging by her thunderous look. She storms off, probably to the training area so she can beat up some training dummies. 

 

Fishlegs had already left once he finished unsaddling Meatlug, and Ruffnut followed Tuffnut and Snotlout off to Tuffnut’s secret spot (try saying that five times fast).

 

It’s at this point that a terrible terror flaps its way into the hangar with a note attached to its leg. It comes to a stop on Hiccup’s outstretched arm, adjusting its wings for balance.

 

Danny stands awkwardly off to the side as Hiccup reads the letter. 

 

“It’s from Heather,” Hiccup explains once he catches sight of Danny’s inquisitive look. “Apparently she’s met up with the leader of the dragon hunters, and she has information on their next attack. She says Viggo’s only bringing one ship along, this could be our chance!”

 

“And let me guess, I’m not coming along on the raid,” Danny says. He’s still pretty miffed about getting left behind.

 

“Sorry,” Hiccup at least has the decency to sound apologetic. “But, well… you’re a kid. We’re just trying to keep you safe.”

 

“Oh come on, I’m a trained fighter! Believe me, I’ve dealt with far worse than a bunch of dragon hunters.” Danny says indignantly.

 

Hiccup sighs. “Look, I’ll consider bringing you along on some other mission, but this is a high risk attack. It’s a chance to take out the  _ leader  _ of the dragon hunters! We can’t risk bringing you along this time.”

 

“But-“

 

“No, you’re staying here for this one, and that’s final.”

 

Danny grits his teeth, but nods stiffly. “Fine” he says, bristling with irritation.

 

* * *

 

Yet again Danny is left behind by the riders, stewing in his thoughts. Cujo is bouncing around Danny’s feet while Box Ghost gathers all the crates on the island to make a box fort. 

 

“They think I’m a liability! I’ve proven myself, I’m ten times more competent than the twins, but they act as though I’m just some whiny kid!” Danny rants. Cujo licks his face, possibly as a show of solidarity, but probably because he’s a dog (albeit a dead one) and dogs do that. 

 

Danny sighs and leans back against the wall of his hut. He’s frustrated with this inactivity, it’s driving him mad to sit back and do nothing while his friends are off and probably in danger. He wonders if this is how Sam and Tucker feel when he goes off to fight ghosts without them.

 

He doesn’t have the chance to continue on that train of thought though, because Scout swoops down screeching about dragon hunters. “Hunters are coming! Hunters are coming! Two ships in the bay!” He squawks.

 

Danny leaps to his feet and dashes outside. Sure enough, a couple hunter ships are cutting their way through the water.

 

“Shit, shit, shit…” he mutters. This is bad, very bad. He’s on his own against two whole ships worth of dragon hunters. He might be able to pull something similar to last time, getting the dragons on the island to help, but he’s not sure if he’ll be able to get them in time. It might be a better idea to stay out of sight, a straight up confrontation probably won’t end well. Luckily Danny has invisibility (well, camouflage actually), so that shouldn’t be too much of a hardship.

 

“We need to get the hunters off the island” says Danny “in a fight we have the disadvantage, so it might be a better idea to lay low. There’s only two ships, but after last time I suspect they’ve taken precautions. If we can get them to go away without a direct confrontation that would be preferable, they’ve got some nasty looking weapons on there.”

 

“What do you suggest?” Scout asks.

 

Danny smiles. “Simple, we play mind games. Make them think this place is haunted. We’ve seen how simple minded most of these guys are, it shouldn’t be too much work. Can you convince some stealth oriented dragons to help out?”

 

Scout nods and flies off. Cujo and Box Ghost look at Danny expectantly. 

 

Dann turns to the two of them and says “Alright, here’s what we’ll do…”

 

* * *

 

The dragon hunters aren’t quite sure what to make of it when a thick fog rolls in across the bay, obscuring their vision. It doesn’t look like zippleback gas though, so they push through. It isn’t until an eerie keening sound starts up that they begin to worry.

 

Silhouettes are twisted by the mist into menacing shapes with strange spikes and a shimmering quality that could be mistaken for movement. The splash of water against the hull is muffled, but a noise like thunder reverberates through the air. The ship bumps up against the shore, sliding up the gritty sand.

 

A few hunters are already rethinking this trip, no one had mentioned the dragon rider base would be so eerie. Most of them have hands on weapons and are glancing around warily.

 

They start up the ramps leading up into the base, the silence going unbroken until one man slips on a patch of ice. That’s odd, it shouldn’t be cold enough for ice to form should it?

 

One hunter looks down and lets out a whimper. Ice is slowly spreading across the wood, making it shine in the light of their lamps. The keening picks up into a wailing tone, and some hunters swear they can see glowing eyes in the shadows.

 

Still they carry on, cautiously now. A scream rends the air as one of their men is pulled into the darkness, and several others yelp at the sound.

 

“Who’s there?!” Demands the leader of the raid. All the riders should be gone by now, that’s what Viggo told them.

 

The empty crates stacked around them start to glow an otherworldly blue as a growl lifts the hair on the back of their necks. The crates start to rise into the air, causing a few hunters to run away screaming. 

 

Some choose to stand their ground- at least until a massive shape with bright glowing red eyes becomes visible through the fog. A single roar is enough to send the hunters running. 

 

One of the bolder ones fires off the ballista as they’re leaving, and is rewarded with the splintering of wood. They don’t stick around to see the results though, the ship is sailing as fast as it can out of that place.

 

Anyone expected to deal with this stuff deserves a pay raise.

 

* * *

 

The riders return to find a massive hole in the dragon stables and an annoyed Danny trying to patch it up. 

 

This really isn’t helping Hiccup’s mood any. Heather had been used to lure them into a trap, and outed as their spy. To make matters worse, they hadn’t even managed to save the dragon they were there for. Hiccup had been completely outmaneuvered.

 

For some reason part of the lagoon is frozen, and there’s a ton of crates scattered all over one of the lower ramps. There’s also a ton of changewings hanging around.

 

The moment Danny spots them he hops down from his place fixing the roof. He waits for them to land before saying “it was a trap wasn’t it? A couple ships of hunters showed up here. They didn’t cause too much damage before we scared them off, but them being here probably means they knew you guys would be gone.”

 

“We were tricked. Viggo somehow knew Heather was the spy. He got away with the flightmare, Heather, and her dragon,” Hiccup explains, gritting his teeth. “I should have seen it coming! Of course he wouldn’t go alone.”

 

“You said that hunters attacked here?” Astrid asks, changing the topic.

 

Danny nods and says “with the help of some of the island’s dragons I scared them off. I’m pretty sure we convinced them that the island was haunted. I’m not entirely sure what they were here for, but whatever it was they didn’t get it.”

 

“They were after the dragon eye,” hiccup says certainly. “Viggo has had everything planned out from the start. It was a trap and I walked right into it.”

 

“To be fair, you had no way of knowing” Danny reassures. “Believe me, the best thing you can do is prepare the next move. Learn from the experience instead of letting it hold you back.” Danny says it with such certainty that Hiccup is momentarily taken aback. The younger teen says it with the familiarity and tone of a mantra.

 

“It’s just- he completely outmaneuvered me. He played me like I was some sort of idiot!”

 

“And the best way to deal with that is with a suitably intelligent counterattack” Danny says. “You’re a good tactician- a brilliant one actually, you just need to start seeing the bigger picture. You think in the small term, I do too, but people like Viggo see the whole and that’s where their strength comes from. You need to harness that strength too, make it work for you.” He shrugs and finishes with “Just some food for thought.”

 

Danny heads back to the stables and clambers back up to the roof where he’s doing repairs. 

 

Hiccup sighs. Danny has a point, but Hiccup isn’t sure  _ how  _ to follow that advice. The anger and resentment is so tangled in his gut that it feels impossible to let go, to move on. He needs to learn from this, but what is there to learn beyond ‘Viggo is not to be underestimated’?

 

Tactics, think tactics. Viggo had used their usual ‘go in dragons blazing’ methods against them, so they need a better thought out plan. They have to get in there before anything happens to heather, which greatly restricts their timeframe. Heck, she could already be dead for all they know!

 

Ugh, maybe he’ll be able to think about this better in the morning.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danny has fallen into enough traps to have a personal mantra and philosophy when dealing with them. 
> 
> What do you think of the dragon hunter POV? I wrote it in a kinda different style than my usual writing. Danny made the mist by freezing over part of the bay and having dragons blast the ice with fire (that’s the “thunder”) and everything else is pretty self explanatory.


	14. Maces And Talons Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny packs a first aid kit, Skulker is hit by a rock, and fight scenes happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the late update, but at least it’s longer than normal. This is one of the few fight scenes I’ve written that I don’t actually hate, so... yay? Writing so many characters in one scene is hard, especially in a more action filled part.

Several hours later Hiccup has called everyone together to hash out his plan. It honestly doesn’t sound all that different from most of their previous plans, but it is at least a little bit more sneaky.

 

They’re going to fly in under cover of night, split into two teams, one to rescue the flightmare and one to rescue Heather. Team one will be lead by Astrid, team two will be lead by Hiccup.

 

Hiccup will go ahead and knock out any sentries posted around the island, Toothless is an excellent night flyer and the hunters won’t be expecting him them have flown ahead. Once that’s done the others will show up and they’ll locate the camp together. At that point the two teams will split up and head for their objectives, at least if everything goes according to plan.

 

Danny scowls when he comes to the conclusion that  _ yet again  _ that he’s supposed to stay behind.

 

“Leaving me here didn’t make me any safer last time, so I may as well actually help you with this mission. I’m coming along, whether you want me to or not.” 

 

“No way! It’s too dange-“ Hiccup protests.

 

“I’ll supervise the twins.” Danny offers flatly.

 

A long pause and then, “…Okay fine, you’re in.”

 

Ruffnut looks affronted, Tuffnut just looks confused. “We don’t need supervision!” Ruffnut protests.

 

“Uh- Yeah, what she said!” Adds Tuffnut. Not that he has any idea what’s going on, he’s been hanging upside down from the ceiling for the past ten minutes.

 

“Of  _ course  _ you don’t” Astrid says sarcastically as Tuffnut falls on top of Ruffnut.

 

The meeting is soon adjourned. Danny is going to fly with Astrid, the rest of their team consists of the Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Snotlout and Fishlegs are in Hiccup's group.

 

Everyone splits up to prepare for the raid. Astrid heads to her hut for some additional weaponry, Snotlout goes to nap until it’s time to go, the twins are pulling out more weapons than is actually necessary and/or reasonable, Fishlegs is deciding which books to pack (why you would need books on the battlefield is anyone’s guess), and Hiccup is staring broodingly at some sort of chess piece. 

 

Danny shrugs and goes off to find a sword. He keeps the throwing knives with him at all times now, it’s better to be safe than sorry and all that, but he doesn’t usually carry a sword with him. He’s gotten a little better at sword fighting, but he’s still not great. In an emergency he can defend himself, but he doesn’t expect to hold his own against an experienced fighter for any length of time.

 

He grabs one of the spare swords from the training area, making sure it’s of a similar weight to the ones he’s been using for practice. Once he’s confirmed that he’ll actually be able to use it, he buckles on the sheath. 

 

Beyond that there isn’t much left for him to do. He supposes it would be a good idea to pack some first aid stuff. If the mission goes pear shaped, bandages will probably be necessary. Sam had always been far better at first aid than Danny, but he’s good enough to deal with surface wounds. 

 

He’s pretty sure that things will go wrong. Hiccup’s plan is good, it would probably work against any other enemy, but they’re up against someone who has a plan in place for every possibility. Danny suspects that Viggo even has some way to make losing turn to his benefit. Viggo and Vlad are similar in that respect, they always have a way to make bad scenarios go in their favor.

 

Danny puts a few rolls of gauze in a bag along with a canteen of water and some pain numbing salve. Now feeling somewhat prepared, he heads to the dragon hangar.

 

The others are already there, so Danny walks over to where Astrid is securing Stormfly’s saddle. It’ll be a pretty long flight to the dragon hunters’ current base of operations. 

 

Stormfly turns to look at Danny and squawks a greeting, “Hello, Danny! How are you today?” 

 

“I’m doing well” he replies cheerfully.

 

Astrid looks up when she hears him. “You ready to go?” She asks.

 

“Yep” answers Danny. “I packed some first aid supplies just in case anyone gets hurt” he says, gesturing to the bag at his hip.

 

“Good idea, you can never be too careful.”

 

Danny nods in agreement. It’s better to be overprepared than underprepared.

 

Astrid finishes saddling Stormfly and hops up, offering a hand to pull Danny up behind her. Danny accepts, letting her pull him up into the saddle. 

 

Had Danny checked his bag once more, he might have noticed that Cujo had snuck in and made himself comfortable. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) he does not double check his bag, nor does he find the gently snoring Cujo curled up inside it.

 

* * *

Danny is terrible at car trips. Dragon trips are even worse.

 

All there is to see is endless blue ocean, and while he loves the sight, it gets pretty boring after the first ten minutes. He can’t even sleep through the journey because if he does he might fall off. 

 

The long flight is making him antsy, he doesn’t do very well with prolonged periods of inactivity, and it’s definitely gotten worse since he started ghost hunting. He used to be able to sit through an eighty five minute lecture and only fidget a little, but now he’s hard pressed to sit still for even a quarter of an hour.

 

Also, the twins are being even more infuriating than normal, which really shouldn’t be possible. He’s trying and failing to tune out the two of them as they blather on about every thought that passes through their heads. 

 

Astrid keeps giving the two of them irritated glares, but they don’t seem to get the message. It seems like survival instinct ought to kick in for anyone under the force of one of Astrid’s glares, but apparently the twins’ survival instinct is as dead as their brain-to-mouth filter.

 

Hiccup is somehow managing to ignore the two chattering teens. Danny suspects that he’s got some sort of earplugs.

 

Snotlout is adding to the chaos by actually  _ responding  _ to the twins’ inane conversations, egging on their rage inducing discussion. 

 

Even Barf and Belch are looking annoyed, and they normally just laugh at Tuffnut and Ruffnut’s shenanigans.

 

“Will those two ever stop  _ talking?”  _ Asks Barf irritably. 

 

All the other dragons groan in agreement. 

 

Luckily they don’t have to wait too long. Hiccup points out an island silhouetted by the rising moon, and motions for the twins to shut up. The twins at least know enough not to argue with a direct order, so they quiet down much to everyone's relief. 

 

The group (minus Hiccup and Toothless) land on a sea stack to await their signal.

 

A few minutes later and Toothless signals that the sentries have been dealt with, doing a quick loop of the island, almost invisible to anyone not looking for him. The other dragons take flight and fall in behind. Nobody speaks to break the tense atmosphere, but Danny is positively drinking it in. The thrill of the hunt is probably what Skulker would call it, Danny doesn’t have a name for it. He’s pretty sure his sister would call him out on it if he ever mentioned the feeling. It probably even has a scientific sounding explanation.

 

They hit a bit of a snag when it turns out that the inner part of the island has far smarter guards who  _ weren’t  _ standing obviously on top of guard posts while toothless and Hiccup did their fly over. They discover these guards when an arrow narrowly misses Stormfly.

 

“Evasive maneuvers!” Shouts Hiccup. “Try to take out the archers!”

 

The dragons split up, making them harder to hit. An arrow thuds into Meatlug’s tail. Thankfully she isn’t affected by dragon root, but it’s still painful. Danny winces in sympathy at her pained roar.

 

Stormfly lets loose a burst of flame toward where the arrow had come from and is rewarded with a hunter’s startled shout. Unfortunately that isn’t the only archer, and a few other shots whistle from the trees.

 

One of them must have sent up the alarm, because soon the riders can hear the clanging of bells and more hunters shouting in the distance.

 

“Split up! We’ll have to be fast, get to your objectives!”

 

The other riders nod and split into their predetermined groups. The twins and Danny fly after Astrid, while Snotlout and Fishlegs follow Hiccup. Unlike in the original plan, they’re dodging arrows as they do so. 

 

Astrid’s team head for the cliffs where they suspect the flightmare is caged. They’re a little over half way there when Danny hears Skulker’s familiar angry shout.

 

“Oh hell, I almost forgot about Skulker.” Danny mutters, cursing his luck. Of  _ course  _ Skulker would follow their group. To make matters worse, Skulker actually has good aim, unlike the other hunters.

 

He’s only just had this thought when an arrow thuds into his right shoulder. He briefly notes that it’s dragonroot, before tumbling out of the saddle. He manages to catch the end of a branch with his left hand, halting his fall and thankfully not pulling the arm out of its socket like doing so would for most people. He quickly clambers up to a thicker part of the branch, hiding himself from the archers’ sights.

 

For most people, pulling out the arrow would be a spectacularly bad idea, but he needs it out for his healing to kick in, so he carefully pulls it from his shoulder. The resulting pain isn’t as crippling as it probably should be, but it still hurts like hell. 

 

He can see the others circling above looking for him. Danny resists the urge to groan. They’re making themselves easy targets, the only reason Skulker hasn’t shot them down is that he’s looking for Danny too.

 

The branch probably won’t stay safe for long, if Skulker is intelligent, he’s moved from his previous location so no one can trace his shot. Doing so would give him a better view of Danny’s hiding place.

 

Climbing down from the tree seems like a better idea than being a sitting duck, so he clambers down from the branch, carefully avoiding putting too much weight on his injured shoulder. He drops the last foot into thick undergrowth below the tree, making an unfortunately loud noise. 

 

He quickly exits the thicket, darting for a crevice in a pile of nearby rocks. Just in time too, since an arrow that presumably belonged to Skulker immediately sprouts from the ground where he had stood just a few seconds ago.

 

The dragon root is messing up his reaction time, and he can feel himself growing more sluggish as it works its way through his system. Thankfully it isn’t as bad as when he’s in dragon form, but it’s fairly likely that if he transforms it’ll get a lot worse.

 

Fighting Skulker while in human form is practically a death sentence, however it doesn’t seem like Danny has much of a choice. He needs to keep Skulker occupied so the ghostly hunter doesn’t start firing on his friends.

 

Danny forms a disc of ice and throws it from his hiding spot. An arrow shatters it halfway through its arc, and Danny sights on the direction that the projectile had flown from. Once he’s gotten a good estimate, he pulls a throwing knife from its sheath and flings it in that direction. 

 

As soon as he throws the knife, he runs to another patch of cover. It’s too risky to move without a diversion, Skulker’s aim is exceptional and Danny doesn’t want to end up as a skewer. 

 

The three riders  _ still haven’t stopped circling.  _ They need to reach the objective, damnit. Frustratingly enough, he can’t exactly communicate that sentiment without alerting Skulker to his position.

 

The rustling of leaves behind him alerts Danny to Skulker’s presence, or it would if it actually were Skulker. It’s actually a rather surprised looking hunter that had been trying to sneak up on Danny. 

 

Danny lashes out at the unlucky hunter, kicking away his weapon and hitting him over the head with the hilt of his sword. Danny is well aware of how bad head wounds can be, but right now he isn’t exactly worried about that. The hunter goes down easily, crumpling with the hit.

 

Unfortunately that hunter just so happens to have been a diversion for Skulker, distracting Danny long enough for the ghostly hunter to sneak up behind him. Much to Skulker’s surprise, Cujo leaps out of Danny’s bag, growing to full monstrous nightmare size and growling dangerously. 

 

A couple of previously hidden dragon hunters run away screaming as the massive green dragon springs from seemingly nowhere. Cujo gets spooked by their screaming and flies up into the canopy above, returning to his smaller size, and barking at them from the safety of a branch.

 

Danny turns around just in time to block a strike from Skulker’s sword. Oh man, this is what he’d been worried about, going up against an experienced swordfighter. It’s made even worse by Danny’s injury, he’s having to fight with his off hand due to the arrow wound in his right shoulder. 

 

Skulker is both the better combatant and far stronger than Danny, the only thing saving him from a grisly demise is that Skulker isn’t yet used to his human-ish body. After spending so long as a blob piloting a mech, it’s reasonable that the transition would be difficult.

 

Danny dodges the next strike, unable to find any way to go on the offensive. Blocking and dodging are pretty much the only way he’s gonna survive this without his dragon form. He’s got to be entirely focused on the fight, otherwise he’ll get skewered.

 

One moment of distraction is all it takes for Skulker to knock the sword out of his hands. It goes flying off into the bushes where Danny can’t grab it. 

 

Danny tries yet again to dodge, but a punch sends him flying. The cracking sound that results is probably not good news, nor is the wave of pain that rushes through his body as he’s flung into a massive pine tree. 

 

Is it a pine? Who knows, but it’s definitely some sort of evergreen. 

 

Danny lays groaning on the ground, winded and a little loopy but definitely still alive. 

 

Skulker stalks forward, sword raised to deliver the final blow- and keels over unconscious. Standing behind him holding a very heavy looking rock is a dark haired girl who, from context, Danny guesses is probably Heather.

 

Danny blinks a couple times, as he processes that he’s not been made into a kebab. Once he’s had this revelation he hauls himself up with his left arm, feeling pain spike up his back as he does so.

 

“You looked like you needed some help” probably-Heather says, offering a hand to help him up.

 

Danny nods, letting her pull him up to his feet.

 

“You’re Heather, right?” He asks.

 

“Yeah, I am. Who’re you?”

 

“My name’s Danny,” he says. An arrow flies over his head. Clearly the hunters have gotten over their fear of Cujo. “It might be a good idea to get out of here before those hunters figure out how to aim.”

 

Danny climbs the nearest tree (Cujo jumps into his bag, back in terrible terror form), waving his left hand around to catch the still circling riders’ attention. “Hey! Guys! I’m over here! There’s a couple hunters down here you might want to deal with!”

 

Stormfly is the first one to notice him, but soon enough the riders spot him too. 

 

He climbs down from the tree with a bit of difficulty, and reaches the ground at about the same time the riders have scared off the remaining hunters. 

 

Astrid is hugging Heather, and saying how glad she is that the other girl is alright.

 

“Er, sorry to interrupt the moment, but if you’re here” he points to Heather “then where’s the other group? Hiccup, Snotlout, and Fishlegs were supposed to be looking for you.”

 

Heather shrugs “I haven’t seen them.”

 

It’s about this point that a flash of blue light bursts from the part of the island the remaining riders were headed.

 

“That looks like flightmare mist” Astrid says, looking worriedly in the direction it came from. 

 

“Maybe we should, y’know, go check it out instead of just looking at it” Ruffnut suggests.

 

“For once, that’s actually a pretty good idea,” Astrid says, hopping up onto Stormfly. Danny gets on behind her.

 

Heather’s dragon comes out of the bushes where she had been unsuccessfully hiding, and bumps Heather’s shoulder. Heather smiles and rubs her snout, before climbing into the saddle. 

 

The now slightly larger group takes off toward the source of the light.

 

* * *

They arrive to the sight of Fishlegs trying to calm a frustrated looking Hiccup. When they land, Hiccups says “Viggo got the dragon eye. We’ve lost. Yet again, he had everything all planned out.”

 

“At least Heather’s alright.” Tuffnut says, actually reading the mood for once. 

 

Heather waves awkwardly from where she’s sat atop her dragon. 

 

“Also, nobody’s dead, that’s a good sign right?” Danny adds. “I mean, it could be a lot worse. Sure, you’ve lost a treasure trove of information about dragons to a band of dragon hunters, but for all Viggo’s planning expertise, Heather escaped and everyone is still breathing!”

 

“Yeah, and it’s not like he’ll even be able to use it without the snow wraith tooth key!” Says Fishlegs optimistically.

 

They all nod save for Danny and Hiccup, both of whom seem somewhat worried. 

 

“But… why would he take it if he can’t use it? From what I’ve heard about him, this doesn’t seem like a very Viggo move.” Says Danny, voicing his thoughts. “Sorry, I know we’re supposed to be comforting Hiccup, but I feel like that’s kind of important.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think of the fight scene?


	15. After The Raid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snotlout knows nothing about first aid, Danny is so done, and Hiccup is obsessive. This chapter is a leadup to A Grim Retreat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this chapter was necessary as a buffer between Maces And Talons and A Grim Retreat, but not much happens.
> 
> I’ve decided that I won’t update on weekends. Also, I might miss tomorrow’s update because I really need to finish a short story for school and I’m nowhere near done.

Heather leaves about halfway through the flight back to the edge, giving the excuse that she needs some time to figure things out. The other riders, who know her far better than Danny, accept this as reasonable, so Danny nods along with them instead of voicing doubts about the safety of going it alone.

 

The dragonroot has spread far enough through his system that Danny is pretty much asleep on his feet right now, so a debate really doesn’t seem worth it.

 

The arrow wound is still throbbing with pain, but it’s closed itself up at least. It’s his back that’s kind of worrying him. Had he been an ordinary human being thrown like that probably would have snapped his spine. Even with his ghostly durability, it hurts like hell.

 

He’s definitely got a bruise forming, but at least nothing feels broken. It’s honestly a miracle that he had made it through all that without any serious injuries. The only others who had gotten hurt were Snotlout and Fishlegs. He had patched up their wounds while they were stopped on an island to feed the dragons and take a break. 

 

Apparently Snotlout knows absolutely nothing about first aid, and treats basic medical knowledge like witchcraft. He was totally freaked out by the idea of actually bandaging an injury. This is not a normal sentiment here judging by the other riders’ nonplussed expressions and eye rolls.

 

Danny winces as the pain in his back flares up again. Sitting on a moving dragon is not the most comfortable thing to do when every little movement makes his back feel like it’s being torn open.

 

Hiccup has been giving him vaguely worried looks the whole flight, much to Danny’s tired annoyance. The team had filled one another in on what had happened, and Danny had to talk about his run in with Skulker. He’d omitted a couple things, he had waved off the shoulder injury as not being too serious and not mentioned Cujo’s involvement at all, he didn’t really feel like explaining Cujo’s existence or raising suspicion about his healing factor. 

 

Danny had also chewed out Astrid’s team for flying around in circles like that. They had exposed themselves to enemy fire, and had Skulker and his crew not been so preoccupied, the riders would’ve been shot down in short order.

 

Currently they’re almost back to The Edge, and most of the trip has been pretty quiet. Hiccup, when not worrying about the injured team members, has been staring morosely into the distance. The others have been giving him some space, even the twins seem to realize that now really isn’t the time for shenanigans.

 

Danny doesn’t really understand the dragon eye’s significance, but he definitely understands the frustration of being completely outplayed by an enemy. Vlad has the tendency to treat everything like a chess game, and Viggo is much the same. To a far lesser extent, Clockwork does it too, albeit non maliciously.

 

The three of them have very different “playstyles”, Viggo has a counter to every opponent’s move and the ability to think in layers, Vlad treats people like pawns and knows just how simple it is to make an enemy work toward his own goals, and Clockwork can work with all the possibilities laid out before him to reach the desired outcome. If the three of them ever worked together (highly unlikely considering their differing goals) they could easily reduce the world to ashes. Then again, Vlad is probably the only one who would actually try to destroy the world (his schemes have become increasingly loopy in the past months), Viggo is a businessman first and foremost, the world ending is kind of terrible for business.

 

While Danny has been on this rambling and highly derailed train of thought, his eyelids have been drifting slowly shut. His thoughts drift off as sleep overtakes his mind. Hopefully he won’t fall off the dragon.

 

* * *

 

After the disaster of a mission they had just participated in, everyone is really in need of a break. Everyone except Hiccup that is. He throws himself into his work, hardly leaving his workshop for the next couple of weeks. Astrid is the only one able to get him to come out and eat, and even then he hardly says a word to anyone.

 

When he does finally leave the haven of his hut, he still isn’t acting quite like his old self. His self confidence has definitely taken a blow, it had never really been that great to begin with.

 

Hiccup is supposed to be the leader, he’s supposed to know what to do and how to do it. Viggo could have killed all of them off without even trying, he could have slit Hiccup’s throat while he was paralyzed by the flightmare, but he didn’t. He  _ chose _ not to.

 

The others don’t realize it, save for possibly Danny. The kid’s commented on stuff like this a few times before, Hiccup wouldn’t be surprised if he had noticed it too.

 

Viggo’s actions raise far more questions than they answer. Why would he let them live? Why did he even want the dragon eye? Why would he take the dragon eye without having the key?

 

It gives him a headache to even think about it, so instead he throws himself into planning. He needs to keep this failure from happening again, because next time Viggo might not be so merciful. He doesn’t want to lose any of his friends.

 

Hiccup knows they’re worried about him, but they don’t seem to see just how close to death they had come. Only a day after the spectacularly failed mission they’re back to their normal shenanigans, joking around and arguing like the world hadn’t just been pulled out from under their feet. 

 

He wishes he could be so carefree.

 

The weight of this knowledge sits like a stone in his gut, and the weight of it refuses to leave him be. It’s not like he can’t hear the others when they talk about how obsessed he’s become, the only two he hasn’t heard doubt him are Astrid and Danny.

 

Danny looks vaguely annoyed when he hears the other riders are talking about Hiccup’s “obsessive” behavior, but Astrid typically confronts the speakers. Even so, any time Hiccup tries to bring up his worries about Viggo with her, she tells him that he’s blowing things out of proportion. 

 

Hiccup has doubled the number of patrols, much to his fellow riders’ chagrin. The twins have been especially vocal in their protests, though usually Astrid comes by to smack some sense into them. Danny, with the help of the night terrors, has been making sure the twins actually stay on task.

 

The stress of extra patrols has everyone a bit snappish, especially on top of making Gronckle Iron for their defenses. Everyone is completely worn out by the end of the week.

 

Snotlout won’t stop complaining about needing a vacation. Danny is the only one who seems at all enthusiastic about the additional work, even Astrid has been expressing doubts. 

 

Everything really comes to a head when everyone (except Danny) flat out refuses to work, citing Hiccup’s behavior as “unhealthy”.

 

“What?! What about wanting to keep The Edge safe is ‘ _ unhealthy _ ’?!” Hiccup demands, feeling a budding sense of betrayal. It’s irrational to feel like that, but it doesn’t keep the anger from building up inside him. 

 

“You’ve been working everyone to the bone, Hiccup.” Astrid says in an attempt to calm him down. “We need a break. If we keep going on like this someone is going to get hurt.”

 

“Yeah!” Tuffnut agrees, nodding his head emphatically.

 

“See! This is why we need a vacation!” Snotlout shouts.

 

Ruffnut perks up and says “Vacation? I’m in!”

 

“What? No! We need to get these defenses up! What if Viggo attacks again?” Hiccup protests. “We are not going to just take a break while an enemy is out there doing who knows what!” 

 

“Look, I get it, but… we can’t just keep going forever,” Astrid reasons. “The vacation can serve another purpose too, we’re almost out of sandstone for the gronckle iron, and there’s a nice sunny island near here we can restock at. While we’re there we can take some time to relax. See, that way we’re still being productive.”

 

“I still don’t know, I don’t like the thought of leaving The Edge unprotected with the dragon hunters still out there.”

 

“We can get someone from Berk to watch the place for us. Gobber was saying he needed some time away from Berk last time we visited wasn’t he?”

 

“I guess…” Hiccup says. He hates to admit it, but they do have a point. Working so hard isn’t good for them, or him. Danny is the only one to have gotten used to the full schedule, actually looking happy having so much to occupy is time. Hiccup has been wondering about that a little, but it’s taken a backseat to trying to figure out how to best deal with the threat that Viggo presents.

 

Danny is looking irritated with this whole conversation. It seems like he wants to make a sarcastic comment, but he holds his tongue despite the annoyance written clearly on his face.

 

“Yes!” Shouts Tuffnut, leaping up and punching the air in excitement. 

 

Snotlout cheers, and Fishlegs gives a relieved smile. Even the dragons seem glad at the chance to rest, including Toothless. Maybe it is a good idea to give them some time to recuperate.

 

Still, Hiccup can’t help the worry gnawing at the back of his mind. Not knowing what Viggo is up to is kicking the paranoid part of his brain into overdrive. Some time away from all that might actually be beneficial. He might get some better idea of Viggo’s plan if he comes back to the problem after a while away.

 

He heads to his hut, thoughts still cycling through pros and cons of their little vacation. On one hand, they really do need the sandstone, and if the riders are well rested then they’ll probably do a better job on the defenses, but at the same time there’s always the possibility that Viggo will attack while they’re unprepared. 

 

Oh well, he’s already made his decision and he can’t back out of it now. Well, he could, but he would run the risk of his friends refusing to continue their work, and while Danny probably wouldn’t give up so easily he can’t do  _ everything _ . Anyways, Danny is even younger than Hiccup had been when he first met Toothless. Sure he’s wise for his age and an experienced fighter, but he’s still a kid. 

 

On that subject, they still don’t really know much about where Danny came from. Whenever they ask he gets cagey and changes the subject. Currently all they know is that it is, in Danny’s own words, “very far away” and that apparently people there called him “Phantom” for some reason. He hasn’t explained  _ why  _ he had that nickname, nor had he said much about how he’d come to be in the archipelago. 

 

Danny is an enigma for sure, but right now other things take priority, like making sure that the vacation is actually productive. He’ll need to plan out their visit, making sure that they have enough time to get the sandstone, but that there’s enough relaxation that nobody goes on strike.

 

It could be worse, he supposes.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can’t be the only one who when watching the episode “Maces And Talons” thought about how easily Viggo could’ve just killed the riders right then and there. Like, Hiccup was paralyzed, he couldn’t have fought back if Viggo decided to stab him right there and then, and if he could plan all that out he probably could have killed off the others too.


	16. A Grim Retreat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny has never had a vacation without things going wrong, the dragons are acting weird, and Danny needs to check his bag for passengers more often.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, that break was a little longer than intended. Turns out I had quite a bit due, and my insomnia made things even worse. On the subject of breaks, I probably won’t be able to update much in the next week since I’m going on vacation with my family.
> 
> This chapter doesn’t diverge too much from the episode, but the next one definitely will.

So far the vacation is going pretty well, Danny can almost ignore the nagging feeling that something is about to go horribly wrong. This is possibly the first vacation he’s been on where nothing has gotten mucked up within the first hour. Of course, there’s still a whole day left, but surely if something were to go wrong it would’ve happened by now.

 

Right now the riders are splashing around in a body of water (a lagoon maybe?) and talking with one another. 

 

Something smells kind of off about the area to Danny’s enhanced senses, but he can’t put his finger on what it is, so he’s keeping lookout. Evidently he’s not the only one on edge, because Toothless refuses to get in the water too. The other dragons had seemed a little hesitant as well.

 

Danny sets his bag down on a rock and makes his way over to where Toothless is sitting. 

 

“Do you know what that smell is?” He asks Toothless.

 

The nightfury tilts his head a bit and replies “no, not really. It smells bad though, like eel, but less strong. I would avoid the water if I were you, pup.”

 

Danny sits down beside Toothless, resting his back up against a log as he watches the riders play in the water. “Believe me, I wasn’t planning to. Tempting fate never goes very well for me,” He says with a small laugh. Honestly, that’s a bit of an understatement. Pretty much any time he says something along the lines of “at least it isn’t raining” or “it can’t get any worse than this” something terrible happens. He’s learned that things can  _ always  _ get worse, no matter the situation.

 

“It never goes very well for Hiccup either,” Toothless snorts “that doesn’t stop him from doing it anyways.”

 

Danny smiles knowingly and says “yeah, my friend Tucker was always going around tempting fate. Sam would always yell at him for jinxing things. For a while he was even nicknamed ‘bad luck Tuck’, although ironically in that case it wasn’t his fault.”

 

The day continues with lazy conversation between the night fury and the half-dead teenager. Soon the others get out of the water to go prepare dinner and set up a camping spot. Danny isn’t terribly used to the outdoors, but he tries his best to pitch in.

 

He’s good enough at cooking to make an alternative to the twins’ ridiculously salty raw fish that they claim is a legitimate meal, and everyone seems pretty thankful for the vegetarian salad Danny offers. Sam had dragged him along to enough seminars on “vegan camping” that he had picked up a few tricks, even if he isn’t very good at the rest of wilderness survival. 

 

Despite being a totally different dimension, there are still a lot of the same plants. He had checked with Fishlegs to make sure nothing is more poisonous here than in his home dimension.

 

They go to sleep with full-ish stomachs, and pretty soon contented snores are ringing out across the impromptu campground. Danny somehow ends up falling asleep in a tree, as unlikely as that may sound. 

 

Only a few hours later Fishlegs bursts into the clearing shouting something about Meatlug.

 

Danny falls out of the tree, jolted awake by the sound, and is only just able to catch himself on the end of a low hanging branch. He isn’t the only one woken up by the shouting, the other riders stir groggily with a number of half asleep groans. 

 

Astrid is the first one fully up, and once she’s got her bearings she’s wide awake. “What is it, Fishlegs?” She asks, sounding only slightly tired.

 

“I don’t know! Meatlug was missing, so I went off to look for her, but when I found her she was all weird. I thought she was sleepwalking but-“ his stuttering explanation is cut short by a fireball narrowly missing his head.

 

By now the other riders are up too. Snotlout and the twins immediately start throwing around accusations.

 

“Now really isn’t the time to be placing the blame!” Hiccup shouts, dodging a second blast.

 

All the dragons besides Toothless have developed slitted catlike pupils and are growling menacingly. Magma-like drool cascades down their jaws, and their movements are shaky an erratic, throwing off their normally good aim. 

 

Sitting at their feet are the chewed up remains of their saddles, prompting Snotlout to shout “they’re rising up against us! This is all Hiccup’s fault!”

 

Danny rolls his eyes. “I really doubt this is a coup. That glowing saliva definitely isn’t normal, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s some sort of sickness.” 

 

While they’re discussing possible causes, the glow of flame builds up in the back of the dragons’ throats.

 

“Running now, talking later!” Fishlegs says urgently.

 

“Split up, it’ll be harder for them to target smaller groups!” Hiccup shouts.

 

The riders and Danny follow the order, scattering in all directions. Unfortunately the dragons seem to have a similar idea, spreading out to give chase. They aren’t flying as well as normal, and their sentences are broken and stilted, not to mention nonsensical. Their body language is all over the place, and their snarls make weirdly fragmented words.

 

The racket they’re making is giving Danny a bit of a headache, but at least it’ll give him ample warning if one of them is trying to sneak up on him.

 

A normal vacation was probably too much to hope for, at least this way it won’t be boring.

 

Danny goes invisible once he’s sure none of the riders are close enough to see him. It isn’t a perfect solution, the dragons can probably smell him, and he still leaves tracks, but it’s better than nothing. His camouflage blends perfectly into the background (he’s not entirely sure how the invisibility bleeds into the clothes he’s wearing, but he isn’t going to question it) making him practically impossible to spot. 

 

Now he just needs to stay far enough from the dragons that they won’t scent him, and try to get to the bottom of this. It would make sense if it has to do with the weird smell from earlier. Since he had smelled it around the water, that’s likely the place to start looking for answers.

 

He treads carefully through the undergrowth, tensing at the slightest hint of any dragons. Thankfully they don’t seem terribly interested in him, though he still has a close encounter with Hookfang. Danny had almost been spotted by the brightly colored monstrous nightmare, but Hookfang turned away at the last second in response to another dragon’s roar.

 

After that close call though, he doesn’t run into anything else, and his trip to the lagoon is fairly quick (he’s still not confident lagoon is the right word, he’s pretty sure lagoons have to be saltwater, and this one is definitely freshwater). 

 

He reaches it right as Hiccup and Toothless dive in to avoid the dragons chasing them. The force of them hitting the water sends up a massive wave, rippling across the entire pool and creating a wall of mist. 

 

Danny ducks down into the bushes to avoid the dragons’ searching eyes, only coming out once they lose interest and fly off. Shortly after they leave, Hiccup and Toothless surface, leaping out onto the rocks.

 

Toothless shakes himself off in a manner similar to a large dog, complete with getting water everywhere.

 

Danny lets his invisibility drop, and steps out of the bushes.

 

The night fury immediately perks up. “Glad to see you’re okay, pup” he says, now done with his drying off.

 

Hiccup turns to look at Danny too, relaxing when he realizes that he isn’t a dragon that circled back around. “Do you have any idea where the others are?” He asks.

 

Danny shakes his head, saying “Sorry, I’ve got no clue. Though judging from the terrified screaming coming from that direction,” he points north “My guess would be that the twins are over there.”

 

Sure enough, the twins come running out of the forest shouting that Barf and Belch are on their tail. Not even a minute later, Snotlout and Astrid show up too, saying that Hookfang is after them.

 

The aforementioned dragons burst from the treeline, the weird magma-drool dripping from their mouths glowing in the dim moonlight.

 

There’s still an unguarded exit, or there would be if Fishlegs hadn’t showed up being pursued by Stormfly and Meatlug.

 

“Anyone here have a plan?” Danny asks, backing away from the dragon nearest to him.

 

In lieu of an answer, Toothless blasts the ground at the other dragons’ feet, throwing up a cloud of dirt to obscure their vision. It buys enough time to dash between them, the small group running to find an easily defensible area

 

What they find is a cave, and as soon as everyone is inside Toothless lets loose a plasma blast at the cave mouth. Pieces of the roof are dislodged and come crashing to the ground, shutting out the currently aggressive dragons.

 

As soon as they realize they’re safe, everyone starts talking. The cacophony is made worse by the growling of the dragons outside. They’re all trying to talk over one another, resulting in an upward spiral of incomprehensible noise.

 

Eventually Danny shouts “Can everyone shut up for one second! This is not helping!”

 

Everyone quiets down, with the exception of the twins who are still yelling at the top of their voices. The sound cuts off once they look around and realize everyone else is being quiet, much to Danny’s relief.

 

“Alright, better. Now, does anyone have any idea what’s going on?” He asks.

 

“ _ Clearly  _ it’s a rebellion! The dragons hate us now because Hiccup made them work too hard!” Snotlout claims. A clamor of agreement comes from the other riders, even those who ought to know better. 

 

“Oh come on, that’s ridiculous” Hiccup protests.

 

“I’m with Hiccup on this one, it doesn’t make sense for them to just attack out of the blue like that. Their voices are… odd. Nothing they’re saying makes sense, it’s just fragmented sentences,” adds Danny. “Also, glowing saliva  _ probably _ isn’t caused by overwork.”

 

“Anyways, if the dragons were rebelling, then why is Toothless still okay?”

 

“Uh… you might want to look behind you” says Fishlegs in a quavering voice.

 

They’re met with the sight of Toothless, stalking forward as purple spittle drips down his jaw.

 

The group backs up, Tuffnut throwing random items at the dragon. A boot, his other boot, a wooden duck, a bar of soap, and the list goes on. Nothing really seems to be deterring the nightfury, at least until Tuffnut, in a fit of desperation, throws a handful of salt.

 

Toothless crashes to the ground, rolling around. A bunch of little winged things that Danny at first assumes are bugs, detach from Toothless’ skin. They flop around on the ground making horrifically high pitched sounds until they shrivel up. Upon closer inspection, they look like little winged leeches.

 

Once they’re gone, Toothless gets up, shaking himself off and growling at the things.

 

“Those are grimoras!” Fishlegs says, bending down to inspect them. When he notices the others’ confused looks, he continues “they’re freshwater leeches that attach to dragons. When they do, they lower the dragon to its base instincts; hunt, flee, and fight. Salt kills them, kind of like slugs.”

 

“So, we just need salt?” Asks Danny.

 

Fishlegs nods an affirmative.

 

“Sorry pal, we’re fresh out. Used it all up on last night’s dinner,  _ that none of you ate. _ ” Says Tuffnut.

 

“We’re surrounded by an ocean, aren’t we? Salt water should work just as well” Suggests Danny.

 

Hiccup nods and starts illustrating a plan to lure the dragons to the ocean. Of course, when they actually exit the cave nobody seems to remember it and instead panics at the revelation that the dragons have been waiting outside this whole time. Danny assists Hiccup in making sure everyone gets back on track, but it definitely isn’t easy.

 

Much to Hiccup’s dismay, the other riders end up getting even  _ more  _ split up. 

 

“Ah geez, there they go,” mutters Danny, rolling his eyes.

 

Despite ignoring a few key points of the plan, the other riders still manage to lure the dragons to the seawater. It works like a charm, easily reducing the grimoras to mush. It seems a little too good to be true, but Danny can’t deny that it’s solved the problem.

 

As they leave the island, Danny reflects that they’re lucky those things don’t live on the Edge island. It’s rather important to note that he’s doing this instead of checking his bag. Had he checked said bag, he would have realized that A) the twins had used it as a beach ball, and B) it’s got a couple grimora stowaways hiding out inside.

 

He really needs to stop leaving his bag unattended for so long.

  
  



	17. Update

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An explanation of where I’ve been and why I haven’t updated. Also, when I’ll resume writing this.

Hi! As you probably know, I sort of vanished off the face of the internet for a while. No huge reason, but school has gotten a bit hectic for me to continue working on it. As you likely know, I really enjoy working on this story, but unfortunately my creative writing stuff for school comes first. Also math homework. Kind of hate the math homework. Actually I hate the kids in my math class more than I hate the work.

 

**But fear not! I will return to working on this as soon as I get off from school! So... in about a month! Maybe. I can’t always keep track of dates properly, so it might be sooner.**

**Author's Note:**

> I know that the Danny Phantom fandom isn’t terribly active anymore, and that this is a very niche fic, but if you read it please comment! Tell me thoughts, theories, things I could improve, anything you feel like saying!
> 
> I draw tons of inspiration from comments, they’re what keep me writing. Even if it’s just a short note about my grammar, every comment is appreciated and I will try to respond to all of them!


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